Without Consequence
by thegrandalexgrand
Summary: Technology giant Eldia-Marley establishes an unconventional form of psychotherapy. Levi, the team lead of its Survey Corps Department, is recruited for an even more unusual application of his employer's greatest operating system. Rated M. Loosely inspired by the Kinsey Reports and Masters of Sex.
1. Chapter 1

_Without Consequence_

 **A/N: I do not own Attack on Titan.**

 **Thank you for clicking on my first fic! I hope you enjoy it. I'm just testing the waters now but it's gonna get freaky. Apologies in advance for any grammatical mistakes as I did all the editing myself. If you're still here, read on and review!**

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Virtual reality was not a novel concept. Technological trailblazer Eldia LLC, however, set a precedent with Paradis, the first VR platform to allow users to re-experience their own memories. This pioneered Virtual Psychotherapy, where Paradis recreated traumatic events for treating some mental illnesses. Advocates for utilizing Paradis for psychotherapy were constantly conducting experiments to provide evidence of the supercomputer's effectiveness.

Despite its success in the psychology field, the fact that the average patient couldn't even afford Virtual Psychotherapy stirred controversy. Legislation accused the Reiss Family, Eldia LLC's founders, of promoting class discrimination by not creating affordable access. The working class protested against it as "the government's secret mind control weapon." Political pressure on Eldia did not ease until a merger with the Marley Corporation, owned by the equally wealthy if not wealthier Tybur Family.

The newly formed conglomerate, Eldia-Marley, placed stricter guidelines on funding for experiments and tried incorporating Paradis in the National Healthcare System. For the past few months, management tasked the Survey Corps with pushing insurance companies to include Virtual Psychotherapy in their mental health policies and procedures. It was the reason why Eldia-Marley's facility was practically empty on a Friday night except for a lone cubicle in the corner. The nameplate on the outside wall read "Levi Ackerman - Survey Corps Team Lead."

Nearly a year ago, the Director of Operations, Erwin Smith, sent a "1-on-1 with Director" invite to Levi's work email so they could discuss Levi's post-merger promotion. Erwin implied that Levi would be going from doing extensive field work to exclusively processing protected health information behind a desk all day. No more meeting with researchers or following up with clients. When Erwin asked if he had any questions, Levi simply stood from his chair and stormed out of the office.

Levi fell even lower on the hierarchy of command when Eldia-Marley installed a higher-up in named Zeke "the Beast" Yeager in his department. Zeke's laid-back, charismatic disposition sharply contrasted with Levi's austere nature. The Beast certainly had no issues with contracting donation agreements and networking with important political figures and the like. Meanwhile, Levi transitioned from socialite to shut-in while familiarizing himself with the intricate processes of Healthcare. It became clearer with every passing fiscal quarter that Zeke was Eldia-Marley's middle finger to Levi.

The lovely "fuck you" from corporate did not hurt as much as Erwin's going along with it for "the greater good." Levi, who had been recruited by Erwin to work for Eldia shortly after graduating college with a degree in Psychology, liked to think that he and Erwin were on the same page about the future of Paradis and mental health. Now, he couldn't help but feel indignant for getting carved out of the big picture and tossed aside.

The vibrating of his cell phone a few inches away from the computer monitor brought Levi out of his thoughts. His computer had already fallen into sleep mode. Levi reached for the phone and saw a text from Hange, the supervisor of the Department of Behavioral Psychology. It read "Go home."

Levi scoffed at the message and logged back into his computer. His computer reminded him that his network password was going to expire on Monday. Levi took out a notepad to jot down a new login code, but his cell phone started begging for his attention again. "Are you seriously still here?" read another text.

Putting off creating a new network password, Levi snatched the irritating handheld device to send a reply. He was literally stabbing the letters of the word "Yeah" with his index fingers. One of his team members, Petra, had made fun of him for texting that way. She said it looked like he was playing a mobile version of whack-a-mole.

"Lab. Now." was Hange's quick response.

In addition to increasing headcount, Eldia-Marley moved the company to a huge campus that rivaled those of some of the country's biggest universities. Its large offices were connected to even bigger labs via skyways that required lengthy strolls to get to. With the inconvenient distance between his office and the campus labs, Levi was forced to limit his visits to urgent matters. Hange was either making a breakthrough or having a breakdown.

Levi mentally prepared himself for both scenarios as he clocked out and abandoned his desk. He reached the skyway and noted how beautiful the night was. He made a note to go for one of his midnight jogs later. The carpet flooring faded into linoleum when he finally crossed over to the side of the building designated for laboratories.

Hange, dressed in a casual pair of jeans and plaid button-up top, was waiting for him outside one of the department's smaller labs. When Levi's tired face met the beaming eye and ironically friendly looking eye-patch beneath a pair of glasses, he bluntly asked the pony-tailed brunette, "What is it?" Luckily, the psychologist appreciated Levi's no-nonsense attitude and said, "Management approved funding for my study," before motioning them to enter the lab together.

"Congratulations. I'm glad the merger is working out for one of us." Levi muttered with more bitterness than he had intended. The pair settled on an out-of-place sofa that was used for small breaks taken in the lab. Levi crossed his legs and folded his arms before leaning back into the soft cushions with a sigh.

"So they still got you doing all the paperwork, huh?" Hange said after figuring out why Levi was hanging around so late again. "Management's doing a big overhaul on my department," Levi confirmed. "It probably won't be too long before they start shoving brats into your lab," he spoke with frustration while staring ahead at a diagram of the human brain and spine on the wall.

Hange mused, "I can always use more guinea pigs."

Levi chuckled at that. In truth, Hange loved having volunteers, or victims, experiment with Paradis. Moblit, Hange's assistant, was unfortunate enough to have his childhood fear of heights projected into the platform to prove that Virtual Psychotherapy could treat phobias. Hange occasionally turned to the Survey Corps for trial runs of Paradis after one of its sporadic updates, but Levi never allowed any of his subordinates to become martyrs for Hange's inquisitiveness. .

Levi watched as Hange got up from the sofa to open a display case sitting at the other side of the lab. The inner lid of the container was labeled "3DMG" and an impressive view of the rumored three-dimensional maneuvering gear rested inside. Levi cursed his height for not letting him get a better angle of everything from where he sat. He reluctantly followed Hange's footsteps to the lab table.

"Eldia-Marley integrated the entire human sensory system with this three-dimensional maneuvering gear," Hange explained. "Instead of a VR controller headset, a body harness serves as a conduit for all the physiological senses. Users could connect to Paradis and create surrogate bodies or 'Titans' that mimic real sensation without any effect on the user's actual body."

"I was skeptical at first," the psychologist quickly added. "But all the studies were right: while test subjects are under Paradis and connected to the 3DMG, nothing can affect their true physical form. Yet they can still _feel_ everything. Imagine being able to do _anything_ to the human body without consequence."

Those last words made Levi shudder involuntarily, but he reminded himself that Hange's curiosity was borderline disturbing at times. Life taught Levi to be a practical person who didn't care much for the theoretical. "Test subjects are still people," He lightly chastised.

"What? Oh," Hange feigned annoyance. "Yes, I know that! Geez, of _all_ people don't you think I know that? I'm just saying that this is the kind of technology that will revolutionize Virtual Psychotherapy. To make people relive their suppressed memories is cruel. It's the equivalent of torture. I've had patients beg me to turn Paradis off or throw the headset controller at Moblit." Levi was not making eye contact with Hange, but the look on his face said that he was definitely listening.

"All of it just made me think, why does treatment have to focus on pain? What about pleasure?" Hange glanced in Levi's direction as if to gauge his reaction.

There was some silence before Levi echoed, "Pleasure?"

"I want to understand how Paradis'artificial environment influences sexual behavior."

"Are you going to be watching?"

"Paradis has never been able to record visuals, but the 3DMG can capture a subject's movements and readings."

"Readings?"

"Body temperature, heart rate, stress level, hormone levels, blood pressure."

Levi didn't pry any further. Hange obviously had a clear idea of how the study was going to play out. The project had been reviewed and approved by management, after all. "How did you get the idea for this study?" He suddenly turned to Hange and questioned.

"Do you recall Alfred Kinsey's interviews and reports on human sexuality?"

"I saw the movie about it,"

"Master and Johnson's study of participants before, after, and during sex?"

"Yes. I _do_ have Netflix," Levi said.

"Oh, come on. You know that the book is always better," Hange laughed before moving to a bookshelf to grab a collection of journals and place them on the lab table.

Levi glanced at some of the titles: _Human Sexual Inadequacy, Contemporary Sexuality, New Directions in Sex Therapy: Innovations and Alternatives._ He was going to reach for one of the works but caught sight of a journal with _Virtual Reality and the Virtual Community_ scribbled on the cover.

"This was the precursor to the sexual behavior study," Hange pointed out as Levi flipped the small journal open with interest. "Eldia wanted to use Paradis for managing real-time virtual worlds where users could interact with each other. Like a role-playing game." Hange sighed before stating, "We had a focus group, but Eldia didn't stand a chance in RPG's competitive market. Participants kept saying that Paradis was boring and there wasn't really much to do."

"It was clearly a prototype. Were they actually expecting a fully developed game?" Levi asked incredulously. Hange gave a small shrug. "I still took it as a failure at first. Eldia wanted to get rid of the 'government mind control' stigma and dumb its most intelligent computer down to a RPG game for the general public. In the end, Eldia put a hold on whole project to focus on the merger. I was ready to give up entirely."

Levi turned to the last few pages of the journal, filled with screenshots of what looked like conversations between individuals in the focus group. "That was until I accessed the chat logs." Hange triumphantly smirked and signaled Levi to read on. Each snippet contained dialogue, labeled with a time stamp and differentiated by participant number.

At first the conversations between strangers were typical introductions and whatnot. Users spoke to each other as they tried familiarizing themselves with the game environment. The time stamp on the next round of chatting between the players was about two hours apart from the first one. It mostly detailed the boredom and confusion of the focus group.

There were some ribald jokes here and there. Levi didn't see anything out of the ordinary until he turned his attention to the logs that were labeled as "private instant messaging" which was limited to only two users as opposed to the larger chat room. It didn't take long for Levi to figure out that sexting was the favorite pastime of over half of the focus group whenever two participants got each other alone.

Hange burst out laughing as Levi slammed the journal down on the lab table and glared at his co-worker. Hange snickered, "Eldia promised the group that their identities would remain private. Anonymity seemed to have an interesting effect on how they communicated with each other."

Levi shook his head, reeling from a mixture of shock and shame. "I can't unsee what I just read."

The psychologist gave Levi a look of disbelief before quipping, "You asked me how I got the idea for virtual sex therapy. Well, there's your answer." Levi replied, "Yes but you could have just _told_ me instead of showing me this…filth." Hange went into another laughing fit to Levi's chagrin.

"So you're telling me that you have never used a social dating app or had something like this happen on one? I was born at night but not _last_ night."

Levi cringed at the thought of his experiences with dating apps and anonymous chat sites. He was wary about trying again, even though his team dropped not-so-subtle hints about how he needed to get back into dating.

"I should have seen this coming, really." Hange chuckled while fiddling with one of the 3DMG wires. "Eldia-Marley is definitely making profit off of subscribers." To this Levi wondered, "Subscribers? The program already launched before your study got approved, then."

"The program is going to launch simultaneously with the study in a few weeks. Individuals who have pre-ordered their subscription are already officially apart of the experiment. It's spelled out in the terms and conditions," Hange clarified. "Whether or not you participate in the community is voluntary. Management has no problem with employees registering for it since the study is anonymous."

Levi imagined that membership was not cheap since Paradis and 3DMG were being used. He had to admit that it seemed like an interesting break from the medical billing side of Virtual Psychotherapy. Then he remembered that the forty-eight hour countdown that was his weekend had already started. Pretty soon, he'd be right back on campus and knee-deep in cases to process.

The harsh reminder of what was to come after the weekend made Levi more than ready to go home, a good half hour away from Eldia-Marley. He looked up at the clock on the wall and saw the small hand and large hand hovering over the eleven. Maybe he'd still have some time for that jog. Hange followed his gaze and said, "Guess we should head out, huh?"

"Might as well," he exhaled.

"I'll walk with you to the parking garage. Moblit's probably getting tired of waiting for me."

Levi gave a nod and looked at the 3DMG one last time. The body holsters were tucked neatly into the box. He almost imagined what it would feel like to don the maneuvering gear and experience Paradis. Almost. He had never allowed himself to use the platform in all the years he'd been advocating for its use in Virtual Psychotherapy.

He stepped out of into the hallway and waited for Hange. When his friend emerged from the lab, now pitch black with its lights shut off, they walked to the parking ramp together. The ride in the elevator was quiet until Hange broke the silence with, "I hope that you consider registering."

The elevator made a loud _bing_ sound as it opened to the underground parking area. A Toyota Camry with Moblit in the driver seat sat patiently in its designated space. Hange turned to Levi with a card for him to take. "Moblit and I will be traveling next week to do some presenting and promoting for the study. You don't have to decide now if you want to be a part of this, but here's something to help in case you do finally come around."

Levi took the card without looking at its contents and stored it in the breast pocket of his dress shirt. With that, Hange nodded goodbye and got into Moblit's car via the passenger side. Levi watched the vehicle fade out of view before taking the stairs to the upper level where his jeep was parked. The drive home was a solemn one. At every red light, he fought the urge to reach for the card, the crisp corners of it reminding Levi of its presence.

xxxxxXXXXXXXxxxxxx

A spotless living room connected to a medium-sized kitchen greeted Levi when he finally reached his apartment. Levi kicked off his shoes and headed straight for the bedroom. He did not bother with turning on any lights; the TV would be bright enough to see everything. A late night talk show played in the background as Levi stripped and entered the bathroom connected to his room.

The warm shower that he took was relaxing enough to take his mind off work. After getting out of the tub, he came back into the room to toss his work clothes in the hamper. His thumb rubbed against the breast pocket of his shirt, holding the card that Hange had given him. Levi pulled the card out and set it face down on the end table by his queen-sized bed.

Once his jogging attire was on, Levi shut the TV off and did his routine warm-up stretches in the dark. He felt his way through the pitch black apartment until he reached the front door. Levi took off into the night with the apartment key and his cell phone tucked in the pocket of his compression leggings.

The air whipped at Levi's flesh as he sped down familiar streets in the neighborhood. It felt nice to run at night without having to worry about other pedestrians or distractions. His mind, however, quickly flashed back to the journal he had read back in Hange's lab.

Levi nearly tripped over a crack in an uneven sidewalk. He came to a stop and ran a shaky hand through his damp hair. He'd only been running a good ten minutes, but his heart was beating so fast—

He was hard.

Swearing, Levi scoped the area for a bench to sit down and rest on. With no luck in finding one, he gave up and staggered to a nearby tree. He pretended to adjust his Nike sneakers and thought, _Seriously, I'm twenty-fucking-eight, not fifteen_. As he bent over to fumble with his shoelaces, Levi managed to make matters worse by rubbing his erection against his inner thigh.

"Hey, man, you ok?" A voice in the distance grew closer, startling Levi. He backed further into the tree's bark, its jagged pieces stabbing his arm. The pain didn't seem to help with the issue he was having downstairs. "I saw you almost fall back there. Then you went to the tree-I thought maybe you were dehydrated or something," a young man with piercing green eyes stood under a streetlight holding out two eight-ounce water bottles.

Levi stood there for a few awkward seconds before realizing that the guy was offering him one of the little bottles. Levi muttered, "Oh, thanks, yeah. I'm alright," but he didn't dare make a move to come out from the shadows. This made the other furrow his brow and ask, "Are you sure?"

" _Yes_ ," Levi hissed. The hostility caused the younger man to wince and Levi felt some guilt when he caught the look of hurt in the other's face. Confused, the kind stranger backed away and placed the bottle on the ground before jogging off in a different direction. Levi waited until he could no longer see the running figure and eased himself back onto the jogging path to pick up the small Ozarka bottle.

He wasn't getting any less excited. That Ozarka kid had a nicely toned body and glistening long black hair pulled back to not get in the way as he ran. Levi's libido was not shy about reacting to the situation. He had to admit, however, that it was weird to see someone else running this late. Maybe some college students just started subletting a house nearby for the Spring-it was definitely a possibility.

Still, Levi needed to get home to take care of his dilemma. He twisted off the plastic bottle cap, downed the lukewarm liquid, and resolved to get home without making a mess in his leggings.

Feet pounding the pavement and breath coming out in pants, Levi raced back home. The friction of his manhood against his boxers and leggings felt electric. His right hand squished the bottle of Ozarka as flat as physically possible. When the _Rose Estates_ sign outside his apartment came into view, Levi had never been so grateful. He threw what used to be a water bottle in the recycling bin outside the complex and hurried inside the entry way.

He reached for the key by forcing his hand into his pocket. It brushed against his hardness and Levi shut his eyes in frustrated bliss at the careless mistake. Not even two meters into the living room, he found himself tearing at his clothes after closing and locking the door behind himself. His cell phone made a soft thud on the carpet next to the front door key. Levi joined the discarded items shortly after as he fell to his knees and roughly brought the side of his face against the floor.

Nearly ten years ago, he had been a first year in college. One of his classmates from his Intro to Psych class, Furlan, took him to a club downtown at the end of orientation week. When Levi came face to face with a dark-haired gentleman offering to buy him a drink, he declined for being under twenty-one. Undeterred, the man had brought Levi to the bar and ordered himself a shot of whiskey and glass of water.

Surprised that someone was paying so much attention to him, Levi happily took the glass of water. A few more songs boomed from the club's speakers before it was announced that the club was closing-it was already two o'clock in the morning. Levi tried looking for Furlan as the party-goers were escorted out the building, but his new friend insisted that they leave together since his classmate had probably already gone home.

Levi trusted his words and got into a cab with him. A gropy taxi ride to the man's apartment later, Levi found himself face down on his date's bedroom floor while getting felt up from behind. "Sorry, I just moved to Trost and haven't bought any furniture yet," Levi heard the man say. "I also don't have any condoms on me."

He remembered not caring about protection. He consented and faced the wall on his hands and knees, convincing himself that he was finally getting what he thought he had wanted.

Levi didn't have a phone yet, so he gave his email to who he assumed was his new boyfriend the morning after. He was then dropped off at a coffee shop near his school. Two weeks passed and no email from Mr. Fuck'em and Forget'em. Furlan nearly tore his head off when Levi explained what happened matter of factly.

The rashes that appeared on his skin later turned out to be from a bad reaction to a new body wash. Considering himself fortunate, Levi vowed to practice safe sex and be more careful. For the next four years, however, his futile search for a warm body to sleep next to left him feeling cold and empty.

In the present, Levi could feel his body begging for release. The memories of his sex life during the college years almost made him want to stop completely. When he chose to focus on the jogger who gave him the water bottle, he found himself getting aroused again and began stroking himself furiously. He quickly slid his undergarments beneath himself to make sure nothing would stain the carpet.

Getting fucked by a stranger while having one's head forced against a tree was a strange thought to get off on, but it seemed to work for Levi so he stuck with it. As he got closer to the edge, Levi imagined getting his hair yanked back by the green-eyed runner. He let out a soft moan as he came. Rolling onto his back, he basked in the afterglow of his orgasm until he felt the wet stickiness on his thighs.

Groaning, Levi lifted himself off the floor and snatched his clothes up. He sauntered towards the bathroom and planned to take a much longer shower. Dropping his soiled clothes in the hamper, Levi stepped unto the cool tiles and turned the shower faucet on. He let the water run until it warmed up to his preferred temperature.

He stared at the drain and let out a sigh. After getting serious with his job, finding time to date became impossible. A lot of men didn't find Levi's deadpan humor and personality sexy. Intimidating and scary, yes, but charming and attractive, no. And if he was not "down to fuck" then he was downright useless. Some dates would be pissed after realizing that Levi set the bar higher than a forty-dollar meal and cheap happy hour drinks.

He convinced himself that he was definitely single by choice, but repressing the desire to indulge was harder than he was willing to acknowledge. His reaction to the focus group chat clearly revealed that.

Levi crawled under the covers of his bed in a new shirt and pair of boxers. He turned the TV on to help him fall asleep. There was some show on with two of its characters arguing about something stupid before they decided to have predictable, soft-core makeup sex. Levi shut it off and decided to listen to his MP3 that he kept in his bedside drawer.

Having no success with finding the drawer handle in the dark, Levi reached for the lamp and turned it on. The light shone on the back of the card that he had placed on the end table not too long ago. Would it kill him to take part in the study? Hange did say that everything was anonymous.

Suddenly, Levi sat up and turned the card over in his hand. There was a link to the virtual community that he had read about in the journal and the words _Promotional Code: TITAN X_.

With the desire to sleep gone, Levi went to retrieve his laptop computer from the living room. He returned to connect an ASUS notebook to its charger and boot it up.

After logging on, he pulled up his web browser and typed the link into the address bar. It took him to a minimalistic black and white web page with **PARADIS** sprawled across the screen. In the bottom left corner was a hyperlink that read pre-order now. Levi was ashamed to admit how quickly he clicked on it.

It took him to a page that featured downtown Trost. It morphed into different angles of the metropolis before switching to other cities. Levi recognized Mitras, Ragako, and Shiganshina. Finally, a note stating that the virtual environments in Paradis were modeled after real-world cities appeared in the foreground.

 _Impressive_ , Levi thought to himself before the images of the 3DMG filled the screen. There were sketches of earlier versions of the equipment in black and white but the model that he had seen back at the lab appeared in full, vibrant colors. Then the message _Subscriptions starting at $200.00 USD_ popped up. Levi did a double take. Two hundred dollars a month was not chump change; whoever had already subscribed to Paradis was definitely on a higher pay grade higher than him.

When a smaller window asking for contact and payment information sprung into view, he fought back an eye roll as he reached for his wallet. After typing in his card information, Levi hesitated to finish registration when the terms and conditions rolled into the center of the screen. He checked, "I accept" and the button that said "confirm" became clickable.

Levi stopped himself when he remembered to enter the promo code, _Titan X_. He then hit "confirm" and waited for the confirmation page to load completely. An email from Paradis showed up in his email's inbox shortly after. He followed the link and was taken to a page that asked him to create a profile.

Under gender, there were the options of _male, female, custom, non-gender binary,_ and _prefer not to answer_. The fourth option made him think of Hange.

There was a sexual preference assessment reminiscent of the Kinsey scale and then a survey on sexual history. Levi was surprised it didn't ask about his hobbies or interests. Maybe this wasn't going to be some virtual version of Tinder as he had thought. He completed the questions in record time before returning to the homepage, where a countdown for the Paradis release appeared. Grateful that the registration process was not drawn out, Levi closed his laptop and headed back to bed to rest at last.

He lay awake a few more minutes before his heavy eyelids drooped shut. Sleep finally came.

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	2. Chapter 2

_Summary: Technology giant Eldia-Marley establishes an unconventional form of psychotherapy. Levi, the team lead of its Survey Corps Department, is recruited for an even more unusual application of his employer's greatest operating system. Rated M. Loosely inspired by the Kinsey Reports and Masters of Sex. Eventual Levi/Eren._

 _A/N: Still don't own Attack on Titan._

Happy Friday! Nothing explicit here, just plot. Maybe language is up there. Anyway, have a wonderful weekend. A big thank you to **greenprozium** and **mistyfoot28** for following this story! Additional thanks to **greenprozium** for the kind review! Mwah~

Without Consequence

Zeke stared ahead at the small, frail woman sitting across from him. The corners of her blue eyes and pale lips were turned upwards. That unnerving smile never left her face, its sides adorned with her parted blonde neck-length hair. Occasionally she'd blink, but the grin never faded.

Adjusting his black round rimmed glasses, Zeke slid a collection of photographs towards her side of the table. An arm swept the photos off the table in one swift motion. "Tsk, tsk," Zeke rubbed his bearded chin and shook his head in disapproval. "Those were photos of your grandchildren, Mother,"

The small distance that the table put between them was not enough to make the aura of the situation appear less dangerous. Zeke could feel the caregivers that were watching them in the other room start to move toward the door. His eyes never leaving the woman's, he raised his hand as a signal for them to stand down. "Did you know that the doctors here have given up on you?" He taunted.

No response.

"Well, I haven't. Besides, I can make you remember again," he reached for something in a leather bag by the foot of his chair. Zeke held a sleek white headset with the trademark, _Paradis_ , glimmering on its surface. When her screams filled the room, caretakers rushed in to restrain the woman. "It's always the hard way with you," With full intent to use the device, Zeke rose from his seat.

xxxXXXxxx

"Just the breakfast special for you today, Sir?" the barista behind the counter politely confirmed as she entered Levi's order into the digital register. "And a small coffee. Black with room for cream." he replied.

Levi had agreed to meet with his old friend, Furlan Church, at their old usual café near Founder's University. Being a stickler for promptness, Levi had shown up at ten thirty instead of eleven. He hadn't spoken to Furlan since graduation, so Levi was shocked to get a message from him via Facebook earlier that morning.

"Alrighty, that'll be $10.99."

Levi handed the barista his card. She quickly finished inputting his order on the touch screen and swiped the visa before returning it to its owner. She then turned the touchscreen register in his direction. Levi signed and added a tip.

"Thank you! I'll bring it out to your table when it's ready." the cheery girl smiled, handed Levi a copy of his receipt, and started on his coffee.

He muttered thanks and found a small, circular table in the corner of the shop. While waiting for Furlan, Levi started going through the news on his phone. An article on Eldia and Marley's merger. Another one on its rising stock market value.

Something possessed him to suddenly open Google's search bar and type in the words "Paradis virtual community."

"You still peck your phone with your fingers like that?" a yellow-haired man greeted Levi before setting his backpack on the back of the chair across from him. Levi brought his eyes up to see Furlan gazing at him nostalgically. "I'm gonna order something really quick. Be right back," his friend held up his hand before Levi could get a word in.

Levi watched his former classmate return to the table with a mountain of sweet pastries and a large cup of caffeine. "I see you still eat like crap," Levi observed. "Yeah well I'm not gay so I could care less what goes in me or how it comes out," Furlan snidely remarked before the barista brought Levi his coffee and a plate of eggs, bacon, and toast.

"Don't think I have much of an appetite after what you just said. _"_ Levi glared at Furlan.

"What? Hey, if you don't want it, I'll eat it. You'd be surprised what stops grossing you out when you live with a five-year old," Furlan snickered.

Levi began buttering his toast. "So kids, huh?"

"Just one now. Second one's due in December. Gonna have us a winter baby."

"And who is 'us,' exactly?"

"You remember Isabel from the nursing home I was volunteering at?" Levi racked his brain for a bit until the image of a fiery but friendly redhead came to mind. He was able to nod in the affirmative to his friend's question.

"We married a year out of college. And you? Found Prince Charming yet?" Furlan teased.

Memories of last night came flooding back.

Levi scowled to cover up the delay of his reply. "Of course not. My work keeps me pretty busy."

Furlan's brown eyes widened. "That's _right_ , you work for Eldia! Oh, wait, they changed their name—it's like Marley and Me now."

" _Eldia-Marley_ ," Levi corrected him despite knowing it was one of Furlan's tasteless jokes. He reached for a little packet of creamer to put in his coffee.

"I can't believe you took that job. Professor Pixis was always talking shit about those places."

"Professor Pixis talked shit about everything. Plus, he was senile. Fell asleep in the middle of his own lectures," Levi reminisced.

Furlan laughed fondly, a chocolate croissant lodged in his mouth. "Who was that guy who always came to campus recruiting seniors? That blonde one with the big eyebrows?"

"Erwin Smith."

"He was on campus _every_ week. Bad timing with all the protest against Eldia's computer thingy—"

"Paradis."

Furlan leaned forward and lowered his voice to a whisper. "So are they really doing that mind control business those conspiracy theorists are always going on about?"

Levi sipped his bitter caffeinated beverage and gave Furlan an unamused look.

"No, I get it. It's top-secret. They probably got this place bugged, anyways. I wouldn't wanna put you in danger."

"Thanks, I'll make sure that they come for you last." Levi deadpanned.

"How are you still single, Levi? How?" the blonde seemed to ask his cronut before devouring the sugary delight.

They hung around the cafe a little longer than Levi had anticipated. Furlan talked about how Professor Pixis, who had also been both of their advisors, pushed him to pursue a master's in counseling at a prestigious school in Mitras. Isabel now had a permanent job at the nursing home. She planned to go on maternity leave after the birth of their second child.

Levi couldn't have been happier for them. He felt eons behind the point where he'd get his own life together the way Furlan had. He debated whether or not to tell Furlan about Hange's experiment. The situation was one he wasn't willing to confide in others yet.

"So what do you find challenging about being a therapist?" Levi avoided making himself vulnerable and asked. Furlan remained thoughtful for a moment before answering.

"Distinguishing the truths from the lies."

Furlan went on to explain how some of his patients were pathological liars who fabricated stories regarding their medication and symptoms. If a patient had an episode, all they could do was reach out to a patient's emergency contact to figure out possible causes or triggers.

"What triggers them? Sometimes they won't tell us. At first I thought it was because they _couldn't_ remember but it's more like—"

"They don't want to." Levi finished Furlan's sentence with understanding in his eyes.

Furlan cleared his throat, "But it's great when a patient _does_ cooperate. I guess everyone wants to get better but only some are willing to do what it takes, y'know?" Levi nodded in agreement. He held off on bringing up Virtual Psychotherapy; it could help get the truth but it would also bring up different issues for a counselor's career.

"I don't follow up with patients anymore. I focus on the insurance side of it all," Levi unhappily brought up.

"I bet you miss interacting with patients more directly," Furlan noted sincerely.

"Yes, I do. The company is dealing with some changes right now so this is what I'll probably be stuck doing for a while."

"I hope it works out," Furlan sighed while reaching for his glass of water. "You suck as a person but you're a great people person." Levi gave Furlan a wry smile and discreetly flipped him off from the edge of the table.

It was already a little past twelve. Levi noticed that the cafe was filling with youngsters. Probably students from the school nearby. "We should get going," he suggested. The barista had bussed his empty plate nearly an hour ago.

"Okay. Gotta head back, anyways. I promised Isabel and the little one that we'd go to the zoo today. It was really nice catching up though," Furlan stood up and swung his backpack over his shoulder. Levi swore he looked like he was getting ready for his first day of classes all over again.

"Oh shoot, before I forget," Furlan placed the bag back in his seat before rummaging for something inside. He pulled out a flyer and handed it to Levi. "There's a charity event for Isabel's nursing home coming up. Let me know if you can make it!"

Levi neatly folded the notice and placed it in his pocket. "Thanks for the invite."

As they went their separate ways, Levi promised to keep in touch. He couldn't help but feel some dread at being by himself again. When he was ready to take off from within his jeep, his phone suddenly vibrated. It was from a new email message.

 _Get a Preview of Paradis before It Launches_

xxxXXXxxx

Monday rolled in after the uneventful weekend. As usual, Levi made it to work early and entered the building with his key card. He finally changed his network password and logged in. A few hours into the morning, Levi was finally getting lost in his routine. An email notification appeared on his phone, vibrating from within his pocket.

 _Two Weeks until Paradis Launches_

Refusing to admit how grateful he was for the reminder, Levi considered marking the message as spam.

"Looking at porn on the job,"

Gunther was standing by his cubicle.

"Fuck you," Levi concealed his shock with poise.

"Sorry, I'm already taken. I might reconsider if you help me figure out what the hell is going on with this patient's account, though," Gunther causally entered the team lead's space with a notebook and pencil in hand.

Levi turned to his computer. "What's the account number?"

"Can't we look it up by name?" the tan-skinned man drawled while staring at his notes. Levi sighed and changed the search category. "Ok, what's the name, then?"

"Better yet, let's do it by birth date. I think I spelled the name wrong,"

Levi was about to hurl a stapler at his subordinate's head when Oluo waltzed into the already tight space. "Hey you busy? Got a question about our contract with one of the psych wards in South Trost,"

Both of his teammates stepped aside as Petra barged in next. "Hey so what's the difference between these Medicare Advantage plans and the straight Medicare plans? I'm trying to verify some of these insurances and the system is telling me to 'contact other entity' and I'm not sure what that means…"

Levi pinched the bridge of his nose. "One at a time," he tried to say over the cacophony of all three of his teammates vying to get their questions out first. Gunter and Oluo looked up at each other and exchanged a good morning before glancing down at Petra and mutually agreeing to let her go ahead.

She gratefully smiled at the men and prepared to repeat her question when Erwin appeared behind the Survey Corps team. "Quite popular today, huh, Levi?" the director chuckled at the group in front of him. They all nearly rolled their eyes in unison.

"Can I steal you for a second? We're about to have a quick meeting and I came to make sure you don't miss it," Erwin made a sorry-not-sorry look. Levi's team made room for their lead and filed out of his cubicle.

"I didn't get the invite," Levi almost sneered as he followed Erwin down the hallway. "Well, you're not on the mailing list anymore for some reason," Erwin responded. "I'll get it corrected before the day's over."

Great, so his demotion _was_ becoming a reality. Even in passive-aggressive ways like "forgetting" to include him in meetings with upper management.

He followed Erwin into the conference room and was not at all surprised to see Zeke sitting calmly at one of the large, mahogany tables of the meeting room. Levi despised how all the lengthy tables were arranged in one big square. The Beast was visible from all directions.

"Morning, gentleman," Zeke chirped like a fucking songbird. Erwin returned the sing-song greeting and Levi simply didn't acknowledge him. It was just the three of them for a few awkward seconds until more suits poured into the room. Levi recognized Willy Tybur and Rod Reiss.

He turned to Erwin as if to say, _why the hell are the CEOs here?_ The blonde returned Levi's look with a reassuring one. It would have soothed Levi's fears years ago when he anticipated Eldia turning him down instead of hiring him on, but it did absolutely nothing now.

"It seems that we never formally gathered like this since the announcement of the merger," Willy began with open arms. "We wanted to clear up any misunderstanding about Eldia-Marley's direction for its workforce and the future of Paradis."

The rotund Rod Reiss was standing next to Willy Tybur with an eerie smile. Everyone in the room could see the two and note the differences in their height and youth.

"Firstly, we wanted to thank everyone for their patience. The past year has definitely been a challenging one to say the least!" some light-hearted laughter and murmurs followed Willy's words. "We ask that you remain patient as we try to consolidate leadership roles and increase the size of our workforce. The hiring and training process is still in the works."

Levi watched people in the room nod like robotic bobbleheads before Rod boomed, "I'm sure everyone is aware of the lobbying that I've been doing in the capital to make sure legislation integrates Paradis into the Healthcare system. We have strong support from Senator Shaddis."

"But we just have to make sure that we squash opposition." Willy concluded for Rod in an almost threatening tone. It made Levi cringe. Seriously, the guy spoke like he was going to go to war with every damn country on the planet.

Willy and Rod wrapped their spiels up with some unoriginal Gandhi quote—yes, the "be the change" one—and wished everyone the best for the next quarter. Levi would have sprinted out of the room had Zeke not approached him. The sea of black and navy-blue suits flowed past them as they held each other's gazes.

"That sounded like a load of bull. I wonder when they'll start to smell like it too," Zeke muttered as he watched the CEOs leave together. Levi was taken aback. "Don't pretend to be on _my_ side," he cautioned the other. "You'll smell just like them soon enough."

"Levi, I've been meaning to mention," Erwin again. This time Levi was happy for the interruption. "Starting this week, you and Zeke will be training new hires for the Survey Corps." Got happy too soon.

"I know it's last-minute," the Director continued. "But seeing how we've had the most instability in your department—"

"I was just telling Levi about how much I look forward to working with him."

Erwin quickly glanced back and forth between the two. "Well then, Zeke, I can show you where Levi's team is,"

"No need. Levi just agreed to introduce me,." Zeke's smiled and placed a hand on the shorter man's shoulder. Levi's blood boiled and his skin crawled.

" _Well,_ I appreciate Levi taking the initiative! I know that the Survey Corps can use all the help they can get." Erwin's blue eyes were teeming with delight. Or delusion. Hell, both.

As the newly-formed duo walked towards the Survey Corps Department, Zeke looked down at the other and offered, "You should join my family for dinner tonight. I'd love to pick your brain about what projects you've been up to the past couple of years. You were a Psych major at Founder's, correct?"

"Erwin put you up to this." Levi replied without taking his eyes off the rows of cubicles ahead. _Now_ Zeke wanted to get all buddy-buddy? That window closed when he started taking over Levi's job.

"We wouldn't have to worry about ranks and just talk to each other like normal human beings," the bespectacled blonde began."You're not a normal human being," Levi retorted. "Or was stealing someone else's work the norm when you were at Marley Corp?"

Zeke slowed his pace. "I'm not after your job, Levi. Yes, the merger could have went smoother, there's no doubting that. But I advocate for better mental health services just as much as you do. We'll work better with each other than against each other."

"Yeah, maybe." Levi quickly dismissed the conversation as they approached his cubicle.

xxxXXXxxx

That week the Survey Corps Department saw two new trainees: Jean Kirsten, a confident albeit cocky temp-to-hire with an associate's degree in medical billing, and Sasha Blouse, a quick learner who liked sneaking food in her mouth during desk shares.

Levi was prepared to be training new hires for the next six weeks. He was grateful that the barrage of questions that he usually got shot down with in the morning got redirected to Zeke, who handled retraining Oluo, Gunther, and Petra a lot better than Levi had predicted.

The goal for the newcomers included combining medical billing and donor outreach. The mixture of responsibilities would be difficult to structure properly, Zeke was aware of this, but Levi complied with fortifying the hybrid role for the entire week. By Friday, Levi was back to nine-hour shifts.

Erwin even made some comment in passing about how the two of them were using "teamwork to make the dream work."

 _Oh, barf_.

At eight-thirty that night, Levi found himself at the vending machine trying to grab a snack. He set his sights on a Milky Way Bar to help him power through the last couple of files he was working on. His debit card went in and the machine made an odd sound that Levi had never heard before.

Declined.

The landlord must have cashed the rent check earlier than Levi had expected. No, the Paradis subscription charge must have posted _after_ rent was taken out of his checking account. Why did he have to buy lunch the other day? He had perfectly edible food going to waste in his apartment fridge.

"That offer for dinner still stands," Levi wanted to punch a hole in the vending machine as he heard Zeke's voice from behind. The Beast looked ready to head out for the night with his zipped up jacket and lunch bag. Levi opened his mouth to reject him but the growling of his stomach spoke for itself. "I have to clock out first," Levi reluctantly accepted Zeke's invitation.

After clocking out, Levi pulled out his phone to type Zeke's address in Google Maps. The man's home was not too far away, surprisingly. His stomach seemed pleased that food was not going to be much longer.

"Let me call my wife and let her know that we've got a guest coming over," Zeke happily dialed his spouse's number like he was going to tell her that they **had** won the lottery. Wake the kids. It's finally happening.

Levi could feel himself tip-toeing out of his comfort zone. Zeke excitedly relayed to the poor woman who was trying to calm down yelping children on the other line that she'd have to make room for one more at the dinner table. This wasn't going to be like Happy Hour with Hange after work.

"And we are _set_. Where'd you park?" Zeke shoved his iPhone in his pocket and asked Levi. Too late to turn back now.

"I'm on the second floor of the garage," Levi answered as he gathered his things. "Cool," Zeke's face lit up again. "I'll follow you out. I'm the red Hyundai Sonata."

After exiting the nearly vacant garage, Levi drove his jeep behind Zeke's car cautiously unto the roads. There was hardly any traffic given the time of night but going to new places always made Levi keep his guard up. The navigator was constantly updating the route since it seemed that Zeke usually took a shortcut home.

When both vehicles turned unto Grice Street, a gorgeous two-story home came into view. Zeke pulled into his castle's driveway and Levi parallel parked on the side. When the two men stepped out of their vehicles, Zeke's phone started ringing. "That's probably my wife," the older man held the device to his ear.

"Hey, what's up? Yeah, I'm outside with Levi. Oh…" His tone suddenly changed. "Uh, yeah, I mean, I thought he'd be coming a different day but—"

Zeke was cut off. Levi courteously pretended to be fiddling with his keys to avoid eavesdropping on the tense phone call. He heard Zeke sigh and say,"No, it's fine. I mean, he came all the way out here. It would be rude to say no. Yeah. Ok. That's my Pieck," Zeke calmly ended the call.

"Everything alright? I can go if something came up," Levi saw a chance to excuse himself but Zeke immediately reassured the team lead that dinner was still on.

"Nothing came up, just got some extra family here," He was trying to sound chipper but Levi could see the annoyance in his eyes. Levi followed his co-worker up the porch steps and into the foyer beyond the front door.

A flash of black and blonde hair raced to Zeke's hips. "Dad!" came the chorus of excitement from the pair of children. Levi stood frozen by the door. "It's ok, they don't bite," Zeke said to Levi as he ruffled the little boy's mop and placed a kiss on top of the girl's head, its black strands messily placed in a rubber band.

"Gabs, this is Levi," Zeke motioned for his daughter to say hello. "The guy you always call a hardass?" she recalled.

" _Gabi_! Mom, Gabi said a swear word," her brother was yelling in the direction of the kitchen. "Stop being a nark, Falco," the young girl snapped. Levi decided that he actually liked Gabi.

A lithe dark-haired woman walked into the crowded entryway. On all fours. "Dinner's ready," she casually announced as if her way of walking was nothing out of the ordinary. Levi briefly thought how with a set of stairs, they could literally recreate that scene from _The Exorcist_.

"Pieck, don't do that. I told you how it freaks out guests," Zeke gave Levi an apologetic look. "She teaches yoga on the side and keeps trying to 'incorporate balance' into her daily life."

Levi moved into the living room area as Zeke followed his wife, who continued to walk quadrupedally, into the dining area. Levi sat on the sofa and saw a photo of Zeke with his family. A taller, older version of Falco stood by Zeke as well. Levi surmised that the young man was the eldest who was most likely out of the house and off at college or something.

Strangely, the other photo frames were empty. It was as if someone had suddenly snatched them out of their places.

"We're on Spring Break," Falco came up to Levi and giggled. Levi nodded and confessed that he wish he could have a week off too.

"Does that mean you hate working with my Dad?"

"Probably," Levi shrugged.

Falco gasped and squeaked, "I'm gonna tell him you said that."

"You really are a nark," Levi made Gabi snicker when he said that.

Pieck called out for everyone to join them in the dining room. Levi let the children run in first before going in after them. He smelled meatloaf and freshly baked pie. He also heard someone who did not sound like Zeke or Pieck talking solemnly.

"His dementia is still in its early stages. Most of what he remembers…"

When Levi entered the room, a familiar pair of green eyes belonging to the speaker zeroed in on him.

It was the jogger from last week. This time his hair was cascading over his shoulders instead being tied behind his ears. They looked at each other with some disbelief for a few moments. Levi contemplated jumping out of the nearest window.

"Levi," Zeke's words broke through the panic. "Have you already met my brother Eren?"


	3. Chapter 3

_Technology giant Eldia-Marley establishes an unconventional form of psychotherapy. Levi, the team lead of its Survey Corps Department, is recruited for an even more unusual application of his employer's greatest operating system. Rated M. Loosely inspired by the Kinsey Reports and Masters of Sex. Eventual Levi/Eren._

 _A/N: Still don't own Attack on Titan._

Happy Friday! Here's another plot-building chapter. I know that I introduce a lot of characters here. I hope it isn't too clunky and boring. Also, I'm not a physiology expert by any means. Apologies for typos/grammar!

Have a wonderful weekend and please leave a review.

Also, thanks to **greenprozium** for your lovely review! I dedicate this chapter to you~

Without Consequence

"Levi, have you already met my brother Eren?"

Taking a moment to scan the younger man's face, Levi extended his hand. "No, I haven't," he slowly responded, shaking Eren's warm grip and taking a seat across from him and Zeke. Gabi and Falco were on the opposite end of the table with their mother, who was making sure that they ate dinner and not just dessert.

"Eren's a recent Shiganshina State grad. Hey, did you know that Levi here actually studied Psychology at Founder's? He's been working with Paradis for years now." Zeke enthusiastically mentioned to his brother.

Eren addressed Levi directly. "Have you ever tried Virtual Psychotherapy yourself?"

"Myself no, but I've worked on many memory recovery cases. We're hoping to expand Paradis beyond experimental use and get into the Healthcare system."

"So until now, most of this 'memory recovery' has been privately funded experimentation." Eren surmised.

Levi nodded as he poured himself a glass of water. "Mostly. The bill that's stalling in Senate now would guarantee government funding. It could mean more jobs in my field and cheaper psychotherapy for the average person."

"The average person would find mind control a little disconcerting." Eren countered.

"That's why the bill is struggling to pass isn't it?" Pieck's small voice threw off all three men at the table. Zeke glanced at his wife as if she had grown a second head. Their children's bickering over the last piece of pie ceased.

"It's controversial," Levi began. "Eldia carried out some treatments but after all the protests, they've been cutting back. The bulk of the cases that I've worked on are for veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder or individuals with mood disorders. Schizophrenia and Dementia are less common but we get them from time to time."

The last part made Eren look at his older brother, who immediately cleared his throat. "Speaking of creating jobs, aren't you looking for work, Eren? With anticipation of the bill passing, I think the Director wants to add people to our team."

The long-haired millennial turned his gaze to Levi, who could feel himself growing uncomfortable with their close proximity from each other. Maybe it was how Eren presented himself like a hippie that made Levi feel that he was on the anti-Paradis side of the debate.

"Yeah, I didn't think I'd stay in Rose after graduation so I'm late to the job hunting game. I've got enough saved up to cover rent for the next two months but all the Ubers to my interviews are draining me."

"Don't you stay in Rose, Levi?" Zeke wondered. Levi talked himself out of lodging a butter knife in the man's throat.

"I could give you a ride home if you need one, Eren." The tension in the room seemed to ease with Levi's generosity. Eren happily obliged for the free lift and the conversation steered to more mundane themes for the next hour.

Zeke announced that it was getting late. Although Levi wanted to assist with tidying up, Zeke and Pieck were having none of it. With some anxiety at being left alone with Eren, Levi watched the pair clear the table and usher the little ones upstairs.

The earlier promise of driving Eren home resurfaced in Levi's mind as he sat tracing a line of dust on his side of the table with a paper napkin. His eyes met Eren's when the family of four was out of earshot.

"Are you really turning in for the night?" Eren asked.

"If you're suggesting that we go get 'turnt up' then I regret to inform you that there is no party animal behind all _this_ ," Levi indicated his face, adorned with eye bags and slight crow's feet.

"I thought you had more energy, considering how you're obviously up and running around at one o'clock in the morning." Eren gave Levi a challenging smirk.

Levi was more than grateful when Zeke abruptly peeked into the room, "Heading out, guys?"

Eren said yes and thanked his brother for the meal. Levi did the same as he stood up from the table. Ignoring how he only came up to Eren's shoulder, Levi exited Zeke's house to go unlock his jeep. Eren followed suit and stepped into the passenger's side. Levi literally had to hop into the driver's seat. He could tell Eren was masterfully resisting the urge to snicker.

"I didn't think I'd run into you a second time." Eren spoke halfway through the silent ride back to the other side of town.

"There wouldn't have even been a second time had I been an axe murderer. You should be more careful approaching strangers like that." Levi dryly muttered, noting how Eren couldn't tell if it was an attempt at adding humor to the awkwardness.

"God, you sound like my sister." Eren laughed, letting his eyes roam over Levi's figure for the umpteenth time. He knew that Eren had been doing that since they got in the car together, but he concentrated on the road instead of Eren's furtive sideways glances. " _Shit_ , I forgot to call her after my interview." The younger man's palm met his forehead in frustration.

With slight panic, he directed Levi to a duplex just a few blocks away from _Rose Estates_. There was a light on upstairs. "She's awake. My phone died earlier too so she's probably worried." Eren released the latch on the door and slid out of his seat once the car door was open.

He suddenly turned around and smiled, "Since you're not an axe murderer, maybe we can go running together sometime?" Under the moonlight, Levi could clearly see the striking color of Eren's eyes and map out the texture of his slightly tanned skin. He wanted to kick himself for focusing on such minute details, but he was still recovering from the shock of actually _seeing_ him again.

"Sure, if you can keep up." Levi teased before unceremoniously speeding off. The stunned expression on Eren's face grew distant in his rearview mirror.

xxxXXXxxx

Mikasa was standing by the window when Eren entered the upper level of her duplex. He took in his sister's glassy stare. The short length of her new haircut was still something he was getting used to. She had kept it down to her back since there were kids.

"You went and saw Dad today," Mikasa sympathetically shook her head and retreated towards the living room sofa. "Has it gotten worse?"

"They're saying that the Dementia is still in its early stages," Eren replied softly. "He still thinks that he's a doctor, talking to me like I'm his patient or something. Doesn't even realize that he's in a mental hospital."

"Eren," Mikasa's sad tone did not prevent him from going into an angry rant. "I _know_ that Zeke used Paradis to sabotage him. The damn thing is a lobotomizing tool, not the fucking future of Healthcare. The Tyburs and the Reisses are trying to everyone into puppets."

Mikasa furrowed her brow, "Was Zeke there with Dad too?"

"No, I went to his place afterwards. Hardly any reaction when I told him about Dad's condition." Eren ran a hand through his hair in exhaustion and threw himself onto the nearest sofa chair near Mikasa.

He felt her hand cover his shaking fist as he seethed, "We have to destroy every last one of those... _things_."

Mikasa inhaled before letting out a steady breath. "You have to be patient, Eren. We'll make our move when the Virtual Community launches next week. It's too soon to go on a rampage now."

They sat together in the darkness contemplating for a few minutes before Mikasa gently squeezed Eren's wrist. "I'm going to bed. You should get some rest too." She left Eren alone to go upstairs where sleep beckoned her. Lacking the desire to call it quits, Eren reminded himself to charge his phone.

As he plugged in the charger, his mind drifted to Paradis, to corruption, and then finally to Levi. Perhaps Zeke had plans to use Levi as well. Eren thought about keeping his distance from Levi but a part of him wanted to make sure that the man would be safe from the wolf in sheep's clothing that was Zeke.

The small screen on Eren's Nokia lit up the room. Not long after its wallpaper and icons loaded, an email notification rang.

 _Paradis Launches in One Week..._

xxxXXXxxx

After days of presentations and questions, Hange was at the end of their figurative rope. Some Psychology Departments at top-notch universities and facilities expressed genuine interest in the sexual behavior study. Other conservative institutions were quick to turn their noses up at the idea of trying to revive a survey of the nation's sexual tendencies.

Recruitment, on the other hand, was an entirely different venture. The Virtual Community of Paradis was undoubtedly filled with well-off individuals. Getting Levi on board and covering the cost of both Paradis and 3DMG for him was not just out of a sincere act of kindness. Hange was set on avoiding under coverage of the general population.

Young adults, in particular, were the target demographic for receiving financial assistance to participate. The budget approved for the study ensured that a fairly good size could be

accommodated. Broke college kids increased the visibility of class diversity, something Eldia-Marley was hoping to promote more of.

"Arlert, Armin?" Moblit called out from the office within Shiganshina State University's Center of Sciences. Hange was permitted to use the space for screening students. A fragile-looking blonde stood up in the slightly crowded waiting room. "Here! Excuse me," Armin made sure not to step on anyone's toes while Moblit guided the student to where Hange was scribbling away at a notepad in what was usually a physics classroom.

"How's your week going so far?" Hange beamed at the blonde when the two came face to face. "G-good!" Armin excitedly responded.

"May I get your personal gender pronouns before we get started?" the psychologist clicked their pen and brought the utensil to the white surface of their notepad.

"Oh, sure! He, him, his." Armin hurriedly gave while scrambling to find a desk that was closest to Hange. "And yours?" he took a seat and kindly asked. "They, them, theirs." Hange replied.

"Now, as Moblit explained in the recruitment email, we're going to be going over your sexual history to see if you'd be the proper candidate for this study. I just wanted to clear up some chronological stuff here first." Hange articulated.

Armin nodded and Hange took it as their cue to start the screening.

"You're twenty-two and this is your senior year in college, correct?"

"Actually, it's my fifth year. I decided to pursue a Psychology minor in addition to my undergrad in Honors Political Science. So I guess I'd be considered a super-senior."

"Let me just correct that here then," Hange made a note. "And your sexual preference?"

"Um, bisexual."

Hange quickly made another note.

"And you became sexually active from the age of…?"

"Fifteen or sixteen."

"Fifteen okay. Are you currently sexually active?"

"Yes." Armin answered succinctly.

Hange went through the next round of questions. Clearly, this Armin fellow had a couple of notches under his belt—sexual and intellectual ones. He seemed bed-shy but once Hange got past the superficial, he actually turned out to be the complete opposite. Hange felt confident that Armin would do just fine in the Virtual Community.

Some of the interviews that day did not go as smoothly. In the end, Hange had no issue deciding whom to ship out Paradis and 3DMG to. "Send one Arlert's way as well," they yelled over at Moblit as the two were going over candidate profiles at the end of the day. "I think he was in the focus group," Moblit curiously stared at the case folder.

Removing their glasses, Hange approached Moblit from the far side of the office. "That's too much of a coincidence."

"I agree. Even though the focus group was completely anonymous, I just have a hunch. Some of the answers he gave to the questions matched one of the transcriptions I printed off for the Virtual Community project. It could just be a coincidence like you said." Moblit brushed the idea off and continued shifting through the piles of candidates.

There were many more to get through, so Hange had Moblit powered through the stacks that were still left on both of their desks.

xxxXXXxxx

"Today we'll focus on patient follow-up. It'll be a break from all the claims we've been working on," Levi had gathered Kirstein and Blouse outside the conference room. Zeke strolled their way with three new hires in tow. "Hey, Levi, think you can handle three more? I know that I'm supposed to be helping Petra and the others with claims today."

Levi gave the three newcomers behind Zeke an once-over before replying, "Sure, but we're starting on outreach today. They'll have to get introduced to the billing side later." Zeke gave the team lead a thumbs up before stepping aside for his entourage to introduce themselves.

"Reiner Braun," the bulkiest of the three with the blonde military cut stepped forward and grasped Levi's hand firmly. Next was the tall and lanky Bertholdt Hoover, who timidly gave everyone a small wave. Annie Leonhart, who kept her hair in a neat bun, was the last to wrap up the formalities. Levi took all five Survey Corps recruits and had them settle in the room where Willy Tybur and Rod Reiss gave their speeches a week ago.

He remembered that Paradis' Virtual Community was launching _this week_.

This week felt longer than it actually was. Between the textbook-like training and what felt like baby-sitting, Levi did feel somewhat back in his own element. Zeke would check up on the new recruits and then go help with the billing side. It left Levi with follow up and outreach.

The rest of the training went on without too much trouble or confusion. Levi made the effort to assign easy follow-up with donors, mostly private research institutions that were supporting Eldia-Marley's studies. When he assisted Annie with a phone call to a private mental health facility out in Ragako, however, the training derailed somewhat.

"We no longer support the use of Paradis on our patients. Our facility has done enough studies to show that Virtual Psychotherapy is investigational and not medically necessary." the representative on the phone had sturdily declared. The call had been on speaker, making all the heads turn as the negative vibe permeated throughout the training room.

Annie remained stoic but fired back with "I understand that but if the patient is requesting our device, the facility's duty is to help treat the patient, not limit their options."

"Look, we don't support the Paradis bill. It's in our revised policy, which you can access on our provider portal," the person on the other line snapped.

Levi took that as a sign to intervene "Hi, I'm Annie's trainer and team lead, Levi Ackerman." he started. "Annie is just doing some practice here to get used to follow-up. Is there a supervisor or manager around that I can speak with?"

After some silence, the rep relented and put him on hold. The recruits all sat through several loops of _Opus Number 1_ before Levi could finally speak to somebody. It was the supervisor, who spouted the same tune about policy updates and mandates and _blah blah blah_. Levi resolved to have Erwin examine the issue further.

"That was definitely an outlier. If your phone call turns into a political debate, please come get me." he advised the new hires, who were scribbling notes about the phone call that Levi just ended.

Friday couldn't have come soon enough, but it finally arrived. Levi stared at the second hand on the clock of the training room wall. At four thirty, he said goodbye to the team and transported himself to his desk to pull up his timesheet. As soon as he clocked out, his phone vibrated.

 _It's launching tonight_.

Levi stared blankly at Hange's text. He wasn't aware that they were back but now he felt obliged to go and chat with them. Which would probably take forever knowing how Hange was.

Avoiding Zeke's new cubicle (management moved him a few feet down from him), Levi took his usual path to the laboratory-filled side of Eldia-Marley's campus. Two weeks ago, he and Hange were in one of the smaller labs. Levi, however, confusingly stalked around the maze of rooms until he found the psychologist in their office.

A set of 3DMG was neatly spread out on their desk. Next to it was a _Paradis_ VR headset. "Don't just stand there, put them on," they clicked their tongue. "I'm gonna show you how this stuff works before you go home and get frustrated with it all by yourself." Hange said as they rose from their swivel chair.

Levi noticed that Hange was already in gear. He grabbed a hold of the body straps and slipped them over his chest and legs. It felt like he getting ready to bungee jump. He hesitated to slide Paradis unto his head.

Having always been on the spectator's side, it was an odd feeling knowing that he'd be using Paradis on himself for a change. "I'm not gonna start reliving repressed childhood memories once I put this thing on, am I?" he glared at Hange.

"The version of Paradis that you're talking about only stimulates the temporal lobe of the human brain. That's why patients can access their long term memories," Hange explained while fetching another Paradis headset. "This Paradis that's being used with 3DMG interacts with the parietal lobe, which processes touch and other senses."

Levi eyed the other Paradis that Hange placed over their ponytail. "So no; its purpose is to help you _feel_ , not remember." they elaborated.

"What's stopping Eldia-Marley from developing a version of Paradis that can control all parts of the brain?"

"Paradis focuses on one lobe over the others to eliminate the risk of brain damage. Having it mess with all those lobes will probably leave you brain dead. You actually think we're trying to create an army of brain-dead, brainwashed idiots?"

"I don't know. Yes."

"Jesus, Levi, you really _do_ need to get laid. You're like those conspiracy theorists on the YouTube."

"It's just YouTube, you don't need to say 'the YouTube'"

"What?"

"You don't need—never mind, just, show me how this works already."

"It's already working. We're logged into the company's server, so it's a bit tamer than the one you'll be using for the study." Hange brought their hand up in mid-air to have a virtual see-through screen spread before their fingers. It was their work desktop, filled with all their folders, document shortcuts, and jpegs.

"Wait, you mean to say we're already in Paradis?" Levi failed to contain his bewilderment. Hange launched an application that prompted for the name of a "desired environment" and they typed in _Downtown Mitras_. Hange's office began dissipating around them as the lively nightlife of the metropolis became their new setting.

Levi was at a loss for words. The pedestrians and cars whizzing past him all looked so _real_. "They're non-playable characters. Once you're in the Virtual Community server you'll actually have to watch for people and vehicles," Hange guided Levi to a less busy sidewalk where they watched simulations of people going nowhere.

The business casual outfit Levi was wearing that day no longer had the 3DMG accessories strapped around it. He couldn't even feel the small weight of the VR headset. The transition had been nothing short of seamless. "So right now our bodies are in your office but our avatars are here in Mitras," he confirmed.

"Correct. When you log into the Virtual Community server from your home, you'll start from a virtual version of your base as your Titan avatar. Then you'll enter the coordinates to the location where you want to go. And when you're ready to logout..." Hange demonstrated how to log off by pressing their hand against the nape of their neck.

The desktop screen from earlier appeared before them with the dialogue box reading, _Are you sure want to LOG OFF_?

"This is your titan and only your touch can bring up your desktop screen. I've already been using Paradis but for new users it'll ask permission to access your files and junk." Hange ignored the desktop message and it eventually disappeared.

"Why would we need to grant Paradis access to our files? Aren't there high profile people in the Virtual Community trying not to have their privacy compromised?" Levi tried talking over the boisterous sounds of party-goers and angry drivers.

"With access to your files, you can share pictures or documents but _only_ with your permission. If the server detects any hackership, then the Cyber Police Brigade or the server's administrators take action. They make sure none of that happens and can force your titan out of the community if they deem it as a threat to user safety."

Levi nodded, eyes following the waves of city dwellers in the sea of virtual reality. He knew the Virtual Community had to be filled with rich snobs. No one could afford something so close to reality. It was almost like playing God.

"Do I just wait until someone approaches me?" he asked himself and Hange. "It's up to you. Just remember, it's not reality. So what happens here can't affect you in the real world." Their words reminded Levi that there was most likely a dark side to this Virtual Community.

Sure, a bunch of wealthy people could be using Paradis to get off, but there was no ruling out the danger. If the computer could simulate vehicles, it could very well spawn deadly weapons. The Cyber Police Brigade would only provide the _illusion_ of security, which was ultimately left in the hands of users. Levi started to reconsider his decision to be one of Hange's guinea pigs.

"I'm ready to log off now." He stated. Hange, slightly disappointed to end the adventure so soon, gave Levi a comforting smile. "No one's going to hurt anyone, Levi. Besides, these titans are indestructible. You'll brain will process pain, but your actual body won't take any damage." they emphasized, reiterating their explanation from two weeks ago.

"Yes, I know—"

"Why are you so afraid to let yourself feel anything?" Hange half-blurted out of a mixture of frustration and concern. "You find an excuse to not let yourself be human. I swear to you that the chances of someone getting hurt—of _you_ getting hurt— are so slim it's nearly nonexistent!"

Levi lowered his gaze to the ground-not-ground below. "I'm not worried about getting hurt physically." he murmured. When Hange processed his words, they finally understood. In the silence that fell between them, Levi imitated Hange's logging off from earlier. He felt the familiar atmosphere of Hange's office engulf him.

Hange also came to before saying to Levi apologetically, "You don't have to do anything that you don't want. I know this is just a study, but it means a lot more to me than that."

"There's so much stigma around Paradis, sex, and VR. I just want to get rid of it and find a way for people to stop seeing Eldia-Marley as some evil corporate giant. They made me the psychologist that I am today." Levi felt the heart in Hange's words. He sighed and glanced at the clock on the wall. They hadn't been in Paradis that long.

He told Hange that it was best that he go home and rest. Maybe the stress of the week was finally getting to him. Hange did not protest. They made Levi promise to call them Saturday just to check in. Levi obliged before leaving Hange's work space with an inelegant farewell.

That night, he didn't run into Eren during his midnight run. It was unsettling yet comforting. Levi knew it was best not to get attached to anyone who associated themselves with Zeke. But he had no motivation to run around the entire neighborhood like he normally did.

Ever since he got home, he had been ignoring the FedEx package carrying his 3DMG and Paradis headset sitting by the door. What was so hard? Set the thing up, log on, and "get laid." It wasn't rocket science.

Maybe he was having second thoughts.

Two weeks ago he didn't know about Eren.

He wanted to see Eren again. And Eren was probably not going to be using Paradis.

Levi told himself not to get his hopes up. How many times had he read too deep into a cute guy's friendliness back in college? Eren probably wasn't even looking for anything serious. At least in a fantasy world, Levi could get a quick fix and not have to worry about any repercussions.

The sound of paper hitting carpet in Levi's apartment made him jump. It was the flyer for Furlan and Isabel's charity event. It was going to be this Sunday. Levi tacked the paper back on the wall and stared at it miserably. Other people were moving on with their lives while he was acting like a kid afraid to dip his big toe in the deep end of the pool.

He turned to the packages by his door and made his choice.

 _Do you give Paradis permission to access your files?_

Yes.

 _Please agree to the terms and conditions before logging on._

I agree.

 _Thank you. Please wait while your titan loads._

Bubble wrap and shreds of FedEx boxes neatly rested in the corner by Levi's garbage. He sat on his couch donning the harness and headset along with the best attire he could fetch at the last minute. The Asus laptop sat opened to the Paradis website on his dining room table. The virtual screen before him notified Levi that his avatar had been completely loaded into the Virtual Community server.

Levi placed _Downtown Mitras_ as his desired location.

His apartment faded out of existence as the world that he thought he knew transformed around him.


	4. Chapter 4

_A/N: Still don't own Attack on Titan._

Happy Saturday! I wanted to post this last night but I wanted to spend more time editing since this chapter is longer than usual. As usual, apologizes for misspellings and bad grammar!

Special thanks to **Melyway** and **Greenprozium** for the reviews! To answer your question, Greenprozium, Paradis stimulates the brain by augmenting its electric currents. Isn't the brain awesome?!

 _The M rating is very relevant now for this chapter's language, violence, and sexual situations._

Without Consequence

* * *

The glowing lights of Mitras's nightlife drowned the city in a lively brightness. It was a stark contrast to the dark intentions lurking beneath all the smiles and laughs among the groves of party-goers. Even if everything in sight and in reach wasn't real, the profit sure as hell was. Clubs were packed with patrons seeking the thrill of indulgence and bars were cashing in on their cravings.

Levi walked past the windows of those places, the sheen of his raven hair reflected in their glassy surfaces. His low collar shirt exposed the pale skin of his chest while his navy blue dress pants and brown leather boots complimented the lower half of his body. Most of the glances from strangers never went past the glare in his piercing blue eyes, however.

 _This was a mistake_ , Levi thought as he continued down several blocks, pungent with the scent of alcohol and nicotine in the summer air. He could see lust in the eyes of the drunkards who would briefly glance and sneer at him. They could tell that Levi did not come from money. They either wanted nothing to do with him or they leered as if they could put a price on his body.

The price for pleasure didn't seem to run very high apparently. Levi saw drunken pedestrians getting felt up or disregarding common courtesy in public. He knew that he had volunteered to be a part of this uninhibited sex playground for a reason. Being sized up and stared down like a slab of meat was definitely not one. Witnessing self entitled snobs place their hands on people as if they were material possessions made his skin crawl.

The further Levi wondered from the main streets and toward dark alleyways, the more he took in the sights of couples who established the ground as their bedrooms. Sheer willpower kept his eyes and ears from focusing on what went on at his feet.

He could always tell Hange that he tried and failed to be a good test subject. Public sex and orgies just weren't his thing. Hange would probably say something along the lines of Levi being "too afraid to feel anything" or some bullshit.

Levi settled outside a bar where people weren't trying to get each other off and dejectedly tapped the nape of his neck.

 _Are you sure want to LOG OFF_?

Levi traced his finger around the box that said _YES_ on the small virtual screen in front of him. Beyond the see-through pixels, he could faintly pinpoint the face of a petite blond woman rushing past him with someone by her side.

That had to have been Historia Reiss.

Seeing the daughter of Eldia-Marley's CEO participating in the Virtual Community was shocking. For all he knew, she was there for some late night tryst. There were rumors about how Historia had been forced into a relationship with someone from her father's social circle. Although Levi wasn't the kind to let gossip spark his interest, he grew suspicious when he saw the insignia of the Cyber Police Brigade on the back of Historia's companion's jacket.

Once Levi realized that Historia was being escorted, he allowed the log off confirmation screen to fade away and stealthily strode off after the pair. He hoped that he went unnoticed for the as he tailed the two. They advanced towards a quieter area that eventually dipped into a cobblestone path leading to a tunnel.

Instantly, Levi understood that Historia was going to the Underground via this passageway. He had grown up as an orphan in one of the Underground's ghettoes. At the age of seven, his mother passed away and he was brought to an Underground's orphanage. Potential adoptive parents would pass him up for more desirable children. Even at his young age, Levi could understand the comments about his "stunt growth" and "possible psychological problems."

It was disturbing to think that the Underground was an actual location in Paradis's Virtual Community. Still, Levi pushed onwards and entered the cave. When Historia and her guard were approached by a different member of the Brigade halfway through, Levi clung to a wall that was shielded in darkness.

The two officers exchanged some words before one of them resumed escorting Historia. The fact that the Cyber Police Brigade was helping the upper class explore of the lowly Underground like a tourist attraction was degrading. The poor and their livelihoods were being put on a stage.

The remaining officer didn't waste much time standing around in the tunnel and quickly marched past Levi, grateful that he had gone unnoticed. Once the officer's footsteps could no longer be heard, he went after Historia until he was out of the tunnel. Levi recognized the trails leading to the Underground's infamous red light district.

Historia and her guard had vanished into thin air when he rounded a corner. Had he been seen? Panic starting coursing through his veins as he heard someone approaching him from behind.

"Colossus? We thought you weren't showing up tonight," Levi turned to see a man of average height with a military buzz cut addressing him. Before he could explain that the man was mistaken, the stranger impatiently cut in, "You're not scheduled so we'll go through the front."

After fidgeting with his virtual screen, the bald man took them to the inside of a slightly dilapidated bar with no more than a handful of customers keeping to themselves. No one stood behind the actual bar. Despite the musky and unstable construction of the place, numerous thick wooden tables and chairs littered the floors.

"Hey, Jaws, I found Colossus. He was trying to follow Krista and Rogue in." Levi's new acquaintance casually called out to someone concentrating on a game of billiards.

Jaws rose from an out of place pool table at the back wall of the tavern. The buzzing light above revealed a thin woman with a hardened glare that could rival Levi's. Cue stick in hand, she let doubt spread across her freckled face. "This is Colossus? Rogue's description must have been off, Comedian." A loose strand of hair fell over her eyes as she leaned over the table again to shoot at the haphazard arrangement of colorful spheres.

Comedian scowled before assuring Levi that he knew what he was doing and wasn't just going to let some random person inside. Instead of considering the irony of those words, Levi humbly nodded in appreciation.

"Besides, you can tell he's a good one." Dread came over Levi after Comedian added that part.

The feeling escalated as Jaws ran her cold expression over Levi's body and quipped, "Too bad we won't be seeing him in action." Determined to uncover the mystery of the situation that he now found himself in, Levi grabbed himself a cue stick off the wall. Jaws took it as an invitation.

"You got a nice pain threshold? Or are you type that just likes to watch?" Jaws leaned against the wood of the table in a way that Levi almost saw as seductive. The possibility of him getting involved in a sex cult was hilarious. Hange would take it well for sure.

Humoring Jaws, Levi admitted, "I've never been much of a spectator." At that, she gave him a salacious smile before moving a little closer. "Really? I'd take you on but looks like we've got a full lineup already," Levi felt her hand give his right bicep a strong squeeze. Then she winked before slowly returning her attention back to organizing the billiard balls in the plastic racking triangle.

"So Historia does this too?" Levi questioned, wondering just where the CEO's daughter went and what Comedian meant by not being scheduled. Jaws visibly tensed before whispering in a chastising tone, "We don't use our real names here, rookie." She then tilted her chin upwards and narrowed her eyes at Levi. "She goes by Krista. And yeah, she's into it. Why would anyone be here if they weren't?"

"Just thought it was strange to see someone willingly come down here instead of being up there among the upper class." Levi responded defensively.

"She's not like them. Trust me, I don't fuck with snobs." Jaws ended their conversation and initiated the game. Her starting strike knocked several of the balls into the holes at the corner of the table. The white cue ball landed safely at an edge far from where its counterparts fell. Understanding that it was his turn, Levi positioned himself and his cue by a faded red ball. He slid the long shaft back and forth between his index and middle finger while Jaws watched him intensely.

"Alright, you can stop knocking those damn things around. We need to move." Levi nearly jumped as Comedian's voice broke into his concentration. He had forgotten that the man had been standing there this whole time. The "customers" that Levi saw earlier were making their way below the tavern. He didn't realize there was a downstairs.

"You've clearly got a hard-on for this shit tonight." Jaws teased Comedian, who mouthed "fuck you" at her as he ushered Levi down a flight of stairs where the folks from earlier could be seen. Levi's boots produced a cavernous echo as they touched each creaky step. The hollow sound informed him that were entering yet another tunnel. It was not unlike the one Levi had followed Historia and that Cyber Police guard in. Shouting and cheering reverberated off the walls in the distance.

"Who's he going in with anyways?" Jaws turned to Comedian.

"Ogre." He muttered.

"You've gotta be kidding me. Ogre'll tear him a new one. How the hell would that pairing even get approved?" Levi sensed the concern in Jaws but Comedian shook his head at her as if to say that he already fussed over the matter in vain. "I don't make the rules." he curtly replied.

Sounds of the mob ahead became louder as the three arrived at a large door. It opened into an even larger showroom, a square arena at its center. Levi followed Comedian and Jaws as they aimed for a front row view. There was limited space; at least a hundred spectators, the very opposite of the pretentious pricks that Levi had avoided while in Mitras, gathered around the ropeless ring. Levi stopped when their trek towards the outer edges of the ring became impossible to pursue any further.

Anticipation lingered in the audience until heavy thuds came from one of the entryways close to the arena. Someone had emerged and began parting clusters of people like the Red Sea. Roars filled the room as the newcomer headed for the center stage. Fans were chanting "Ogre" in unison from their throats.

Ogre was a huge brick wall of fierceness. A menacing grin ran across its face, sporting a deep scar that rendered sight from the left eye useless. The visceral makeup of the giant, towering a little over two meters, constituted bundles of unbreakable cartilage. A tightly fitting black racer back jersey and a pair of boxer shorts clung to its sinewy form. Ogre finally acknowledged the audience before taking a fighting stance and loudly popping its joints.

Levi knew that this freak of nature had no intentions of making someone feel good. The innuendo-filled conversation that he had with Jaws replayed in his mind. She hadn't been talking about fucking people but fucking people _up_ , which Ogre intended to do to whoever was stupid enough to step into its radius of havoc. Then another wave of realization hit.

This was an Underground fighting ring. _Organized_ violence. Whoever was running the show here understood how Paradis operated and had access to 3DMG. Levi figured that Comedian had converted Levi's server into one undetectable by the average Virtual Community member before they entered the bar together. His mind went back to the Cyber Police Brigade—they must have been in on this too. _Someone_ was protecting and promoting this activity from the inside.

There were days during his miserable childhood where Levi wished he had an outlet better than knife fights and petty crimes. His college education aided him in rising above the cesspool of violence. The aggression burrowed its way into Levi's subconscious, however. Now he was watching an unlawful display of everything he sought to cleanse his soul of.

"Fuck me, he's still going through with it," Levi heard Comedian bemoan. At that moment, Levi could barely make out a person shoving through the herd of people on the other side of the ring. Levi couldn't get a good view of the contender until they climbed into the arena to face Ogre. This must have been Rogue, the idiot with a death wish.

Rogue wore an outfit that hung loosely rather than awkwardly clinging to the body like Ogre's did. Levi lifted his surveying gaze up to Rogue's head, topped with a tight ponytail and some renegade locks falling near his green eyes—

"Eren!?" Levi's shock couldn't be heard over the deafening mixture of taunting and applauding. Jaws definitely heard him, but was too wrapped up in seeing Ogre charge at her friend. " _Jesus_ , Rogue, get the hell out of the way!" she exclaimed.

Ogre's fist nearly connected with Eren's jaw before the smaller of the two ducked and rolled to a safer part of the ring. Eren unfortunately couldn't get far enough from Ogre's leg, which rushed into his abdomen like a swinging log and knocked Eren next to the edge where hecklers swore and cursed at him. Levi cringed, knowing that a kick like that could shatter ribs.

Quickly stumbling to his feet, Eren dodged a surprise hand-delivered assault from Ogre. The monster had managed to close in on Eren in the blink of an eye. Levi could see that Eren was unable to process his own fear as he focused on avoiding Ogre's onslaught of punches, each one whooshing past him. Ogre's offense was brutal and Eren would not stop falling within a lethal range of its attacks.

If his strategy was to wear the Ogre out, it was failing. Ogre was blessed with a limitless supply of energy and uncanny speed, which caused Levi's mental alarm to go off as Ogre used it to stop Eren finding any leeway during the battle. Eren got his nose rammed into the Ogre's solid-as-steel kneecap. The sound of Eren's nose crunching was met with sheer delight by Ogre fans. Levi naturally expected carnage to spew out unto the stage but watched in amazement as Eren's nasal passage literally snapped back into its anatomically correct shape.

Rather than the blood Levi had expected to see, boiling steam burst from Eren's face and into the air. Ogre was not bothered by the sudden rise in temperature and retaliated with a series of powerful punches, each one visibly denting parts of Eren like a rag doll. Comedian and Jaws watched in horror as their Rogue endured a pummeling that turned Ogre's fist into a blood-caked mess.

Levi remembered what Hange had told him about titans withstanding damage, but he couldn't have imagined a more ruthless demonstration of the computer's ability. Overworking the system to recover a user's avatar could overheat it or cause it to malfunction. Eren couldn't stay far enough away from Ogre to allow Paradis to reconstruct his titan in time, unluckily for him. Ogre's hits were devastating, yet Eren wouldn't _stay_ down if he got knocked down.

Ogre grew bored with watching Rogue hit the floor, struggle to get back up, and hit the floor again. It dragged Eren off the ground by his throat while contemplating a finishing blow. The piping hot blood coloring Eren's tanned flesh didn't daunt the juggernaut in the slightest. Its grip tightened and Eren coughed a burning cloud of steaming blood into Ogre's good eye. Momentarily blinded, Ogre loosened its hold and gravity returned Eren to the floor in a heap.

The burning pain in Ogre's socket produced a hot white vapor that mingled with the steam of Eren's recovering titan. Wails of confusion rang among the audience as their vision of the match became foggy. Once the nuisance cleared, the house could see Eren taking advantage of the fact that Ogre's sight relied on its one functioning eye. He guaranteed that the organ was shoved deep into the Ogre's skull before proceeding to tear into the beast repeatedly with fiery strikes.

Every time Ogre's wound tried to recuperate, Eren would use his teeth to break the skin of his own thumb and press the misty digit into his victim's eye. Helplessly clawing at what it could not see, Ogre tried to get Eren back into a death-grip. Eren's titan form had fully recovered, however, and was laying into every unguarded part of Ogre's crumpling body.

Eren was not going to let his opponent's eye regenerate no matter how painful the steam from his deep red hands burned. Ogre mustered what was left of its strength to raise its large arms above its head. Eren jumped backwards to save himself from what could have a been Ogre's last-ditch effort to drive him into the ground but was surprised when Ogre signaled a surrender.

Levi could hear a pin drop as all sound suddenly abandoned the showroom. As bystanders comprehended just what was being communicated between Eren and the fallen giant, they erupted into applause with newfound admiration for their champion, the Rogue Titan. Levi grew anxious as Eren stepped away from the ring to most likely find Comedian and Jaws. Levi searched for an escape but every which way was blocked by a member of the audience.

Sure enough, Eren had found them. "You son of bitch," Comedian happily drew the man into a bear hug while Jaws noted the uncomfortable expression on Levi's face. "I didn't know that you were so punchable, Rogue," she patted Eren on the back. "I think Colossus here is disappointed that he didn't get a taste of you for himself."

Comedian released Eren and nodded towards Levi, "Yeah, he was trying to follow you and Krista in. She still here by the way?" Eren only listened to the first half of what Comedian said. Levi felt the champion staring at him in disbelief. Jaws rested a firm hand on Eren's shoulder and reiterated Comedian's question.

"Yeah...she's by the exit waiting for you all after my match like she promised." Eren snapped out of his stupor and smiled. The two told Eren to come find them after the next round and left him alone with Levi, who was confident that Eren didn't think that Levi was whom Comedian had mistook him for.

"I knew that somebody was following us. I just didn't expect it to be you." Eren's tone was a one-eighty from the bloodthirsty animal Levi had seen just a few minutes ago. "This is completely coincidental," Levi began. "I just got tired of wondering around Mitras for that idiotic _experiment_ and ended up here."

Eren furrowed his brow. "That sex experiment? But you're not—"

"A spoiled, rich brat. I know. That's why I got frustrated with it. This fits my background better anyways."

"Yeah, but you don't fit Colossus's description either. You _shouldn't_ be here." Eren countered.

" _You're_ the one participating in an illegal underground fighting ring that's pirating Eldia-Marley's equipment and you're telling me that _I_ don't belong here?" Levi snarled. Eren nervously brought his hands up in an attempt to placate Levi. "It's just that there's nothing but army vets, ex-convicts, and delinquents here. This is therapeutic for them but I know it goes everything that you do for Zeke—"

"Ok, let's get one thing straight. I do _not_ work for your brother. I'm working _with_ him _against_ my will." The flustered champion was taken aback by Levi's bite.

Therapeutic or not, Levi considered this a violation of Eldia-Marley's copyright. He considered reporting the ring and Historia's involvement to the Cyber Police Brigade. Remembering that were moles in the Brigade convinced Levi to come up with a better strategy. Shutting down the Underground ring would create a void that could quickly be filled.

Levi chuckled, "Don't call this shit 'therapeutic.' You don't even have a clear stance on Paradis. Hell, you think it's a mind control machine."

"It _is_. Which is why Paradis is better off in the hands of those who need it, not those who just want to harm others with it." Eren hotly debated.

"God, you sound just like those wacko conspiracy freaks that are protesting the bill. Who is paying you to do this?" Levi interrogated. "That needing a job and whatnot story from dinner last week was clearly a cover-up."

Eren stood and gaped at him, trying to find the right words.

In the nick of time, the audience began clamoring with excitement for the next round. Feeding off the hype, Eren brought his own hands together and clapped for the two new titan avatars preparing to have their showdown. "Tell you what, if you can predict the winner of this round, I'll tell you what you want to know."

Having his question brazenly brushed aside irked Levi. "And if I pick the loser?" he crossed his arms and shot back pointedly.

"Then you'll have to show me how strong your so-called background is." Eren retorted.

Levi didn't need to read in between the lines to understand what this kid was asking for. "If you want your ass handed to you then have a rematch with Ogre _without_ your little steam trick. You're just overusing your 3DMG."

"Oh? So you're saying that you don't think you'll be able to keep up with me?" Eren prodded the older man into giving in to the challenge. "Don't say that I didn't warn you." Levi huffed before returning his attention to the spectacle in front of him. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Eren flashing him a gleeful grin.

Sonny, a blonde street fighter, and Bean, an intimidating brunette, entered the ring. From the start Levi knew that this match was not going to possess the same caliber as the one between Rogue and Ogre, but Levi carefully weighed the chances of victory for both competitors. He could still feel Eren's eyes on him.

"Eyes forward. You have a stake in this too." He ordered.

"Bean's gonna win." Eren predicted confidently after watching the ring for a few seconds.

"Sonny is the one who's quick on his feet. Furthermore, Bean's weakness is in his stance—he'll tumble over and get KO'd by the fucking floor if he keeps shuffling around with no balance." Levi contradicted.

Eren wouldn't let their banter die and kept offering insight into Sonny and Bean's fight. Levi could feel him puffing warm breath over the back of his neck as he spoke. Given the packed space that they were in, it was difficult to hear. Or maybe Eren was just taking advantage of the situation. Levi found that he couldn't bring himself to hate the attention. The wiser part of him knew not to get too comfortable with someone who was keeping secrets.

Bean eventually tripped over his own feet and landed headfirst on the arena's hard surface. Levi carefully turned to give Eren a smug "I told you so" look. Eren appeared more occupied with staring at Levi but feigned shock at Bean's clumsiness. Sonny pounced unto Bean with a body slam meant to conclude the match. The impact was strong but Bean sprung into a four-limb hold on the blonde like a Venus fly trap.

Hiding his astonishment at the turn of events, Levi tried to not let the tension in his body go detected by Eren. "Those are tough to get out of. Bean will probably put a lot of pressure _here_." Levi almost gasped as Eren's warm hand snaked around his throat to lightly press a finger near his jugular.

In the ring, Sonny struggled to gather himself and breathe. Bean's clutch proved to be a formidable one as his trapped opponent began begging for oxygen to return to his lungs. Sonny tapped out and Levi swore softly. The fight was over before it could even garner enough thrills. Moreover, Eren had won their bet.

The match having ended, Levi humbly let Eren lead the way back to his group of friends, idling by the entrance. He noticed Jaw's possessive arm around Historia's waist. Witnesses filed out of the arena for what Levi felt was just an intermission. He wasn't aware of the schedule but was certain more matches were to come.

"That isn't Colossus." Historia frowned as Eren approached them, Levi close by.

"I know. Don't you remember me saying that Colossus is about two hundred centimeters? This guy's a runt." Eren glared disapprovingly at Comedian while Levi hid a snarl at Eren's derisive comment on his height.

"So who is he and why the hell would he have been following you two?" The buzz cut wearing man asked irritably.

"Levi is a different new recruit." Eren stated as a matter of factly to Historia. Levi felt slightly betrayed that Eren didn't try to conceal his identity more. Didn't Jaws say that they didn't use their real names? "But Colossus actually paid the registration fee. Your friend here just got in free of charge." Historia pouted.

Levi inwardly rolled his eyes. Of course the Reisses were all about money. Eren replied, "Fair enough. I'll cover everything for him and make sure he fights next time." the congenial, casual way that he spoke to someone of Historia's class threw Levi off. Then again, Historia was known as Krista here and he had a feeling only a select few were aware of her high status.

Jaws nodded absently. Comedian flashed Eren a thumbs up. "Good job out there tonight, Rogue." He looked at Levi and said, "Guess we'll see you take someone down next time, huh?"

"I look forward to it." Levi spoke for himself, beating Eren to the punch. The trio of Eren's friends waved goodbye and made their way for the exit. Levi attempted to do the same, but Eren called after him.

"Where do you think you're going? You lost our bet."

"Do you seriously expect me to fight you? Or register for this unlawful shit? We can forget that I was even here tonight. Trust me, I'm not going to rat you out to your brother or anything petty like that." Levi sighed. "I just want to know who's orchestrating this Underground fighting ring."

Eren launched his virtual navigator. He placed the coordinates of a certain location and Levi braced himself for their environment to transform into an abandoned junkyard, graveyard, or wherever. Outside between a familiar streetlight and a tree was not the ideal place Levi had in mind.

"Why here?" Levi took a few seconds to recognize the spot as where he and Eren first met two weeks ago.

"I couldn't get you out of my head after meeting you here." Eren responded bluntly.

Levi didn't say anything. Eren bravely stood in front of him and allowed their eyes to meet. Although slightly tattered, the very outfit Eren wore was a close match to the one Levi saw him jogging in that fateful night. Levi leaned in towards Eren. They both seemed to be in a trance as the distance between them grew smaller and smaller.

Eren then flew into the grass behind him with blood trailing from the corner of his lip to his chin. .

Levi had just knocked the shit out of him.

"W-what the fuck?" Eren yelled at Levi, who was admiring his handiwork. Steam replaced the blood and the damaged area healed itself in record time.

"That's for calling me a runt, brat." Levi spat venomously. "Now get your sorry ass up and finish what you started."

Adjusting his body into a combat-ready position, Levi raised his fists and prepared to go on the defense. Eren quickly recovered and dashed for Levi's middle. He fell short of his target and landed in the grass on his side. Levi punctuated the pony-tailed man's failure with a forceful kick to the gut. Another one went square into Eren's chest. For Levi, it brought back memories of conquering smart ass shitheads at the orphanage who would underestimate Levi for his size.

"You're stronger than you look for an office drone." Eren managed between wheezes as he regained composure.

"And you make a good punching bag," Levi mocked.

He instantly maneuvered around Eren's aggressive barrage of strikes that never came close to landing. At last, Levi caught one of Eren's arms with his right hand and used his left to grapple Eren's underarm before throwing the long-haired man over his shoulder. Eren was slammed to the ground, the grass doing little to cushion the crash. He still hung on to Levi and rolled the smaller fighter to the ground beside himself.

Levi's reflexes weren't fast enough to stop Eren from pinning himself on top. Levi got his hands trapped above his head, hair splayed across the grass in a black spiral. In the stillness of the night, Levi could hear their hearts beating together rapidly. Refusing to let himself get caught up in the moment, he hesitated before blurting out, "We shouldn't do this."

Eren released his grasp on Levi's wrists and stared at him blankly. He didn't change his position, however.

"You're Zeke's brother. That makes this even more wrong." Levi explained.

"He's my half-brother. So that would make this less wrong." the laughter from Eren vibrated throughout Levi's body. The sensation sent blood rushing to Levi's crotch. He eventually rose off of Levi in understanding when Levi's resolution wouldn't budge.

"You don't have to convince yourself to hate me because you like me." Eren reasoned.

"Don't put words in my mouth. I did _not_ say that I like you." Levi growled as he stood up.

"But I do," Eren confessed. "Not everything you know about me may be true but that part definitely is." He leaned forward to brush his lips against Levi's. Pulling away, Levi backed into a recognizable tree. Levi glanced at the simulation around him before returning a stern glare to Eren. "Who's running the Underground fighting ring, Eren? Stop toying with me."

"I'm not toying with you. Just—can't you think about something else right now?" Eren moved closer to Levi even after being rebuffed. Levi's expression did not soften. "Right now I'm thinking about how I can't trust you."

"Is that right? I'd say you're thinking about something else." Eren's green eyes glanced downwards to Levi's midsection and back up. Steadying himself against the tree's trunk, Levi mimicked Eren's actions and saw the tent in his dress pants. Mortified, he kept his eyes glued to the grass where he saw Eren's sneakers nearing his boots.

Without warning, Eren captured Levi's mouth and slid an eager tongue inside. It was not tenderly but roughly done and Levi didn't resist in spite of himself. Eren broke the embrace for air and dove back in viciously. The unfamiliar touch of someone new had Levi's mind reeling. He could feel his back getting shoved into prickly bark as Eren shamelessly pressed his hardness into Levi's.

They held each other's half-lidded gazes; lips parted as thick waves of breath filled the tiny gap between their faces. Levi impatiently released Eren's hair band before pulling him in for another open mouthed kiss, the younger man's shoulder length hair covering either side of their cheeks. Sliding his tongue alongside Eren's own, Levi reveled in the sound of the wanton moan that Eren rewarded him with. Levi felt cold air replace Eren's warmth as the other abruptly lowered himself to his knees to not-so-gracefully free Levi's aching hard-on.

"What are you doing?" Levi was annoyed that Eren had disrupted their make out session to fumble with the button and zipper of Levi's pants.

"What does it look like I'm doing?"

"I'm not letting you put your filthy mouth on me without a condom." Levi scowled.

"Yeah, let me just pull one out of my top hat?" Eren sat back on his heels and snickered. "C'mon, these aren't even our real bodies. I can't give your titan STDs, Levi."

"How do you know that?" Levi knew he sounded paranoid but it was better to take precaution. "Plus we're _outside_. I can't think of a more unsanitary place to do something like this." So what if Levi had fantasized about doing something exactly like this in this very spot two weeks ago. Germs don't exist in fantasies. Perhaps they didn't exist in Paradis either, but Levi wasn't going to take those chances.

Eren nodded and stood up. "Ok, take us to your apartment then. It's where you logged on, right? Just hit the home button on the virtual pad." His normally calm voice sounded hurried.

He wasn't thrilled about letting Eren into his home, but Levi agreed to teleport them there. As soon as the location replaced the outdoorsy one, Eren was back at claiming Levi's mouth. Even in the darkness, Levi could tell they were in the living room.

"Sorry about the mess. The bedroom is this way," Levi muttered when they were breathless again. Eren only saw a pile of cardboard boxes in the kitchen area. He figured that Levi was a neat freak and stayed on Levi's heels.

Eren entered Levi's room to only see a bed, a lamp on top of an end table, a desk, and a TV resting above a modest dresser. It was a simple set up and Eren sat on the bed while Levi opened one of his wardrobe drawers. "Hope you're not getting your murder weapon out of there." Eren joked.

"If I wanted to kill you, I would have done it by now." Levi smirked as he tossed a latex condom unto the comforter. Eren grabbed the packet to rip it open. He watched Levi peel off the lower half of his clothes and neatly place them in a nearby hamper.

Sitting at the edge of the bed, Levi pointed at a space on the floor between his legs. Eren realized that this was where he was wanted and climbed off the bed to kneel before his partner. Eren urged by hand for Levi to lie back before tugging at the edge of his underwear.

At that moment Levi didn't feel ready to be exposed. Hange was right about him being afraid of feeling. It was because he had felt everything on the wide spectrum of emotions, hurt being one that Levi had no desire to get to know again. Those fears faded into nothingness as Eren's warm hand took hold of his cock. He lifted his head to see Eren dolloping a generous amount of saliva unto the head.

The condom slid on with ease after Eren ensured that Levi was slick enough. His hot mouth came after, taking Levi all the way to the root. Levi tossed his head back and swore loudly. Eren took it as encouragement and took Levi in even further at end of every stroke.

"Not gonna last very long if you keep doing that," he panted as Eren picked up the pace. Levi could feel those lips curl into a smile. When Eren began humming, it sent tortuous vibrations through Levi's legs, wrapping around Eren's spine in unadulterated need. His hand gripped Eren's lengthy hair and tightened as a feathery feeling fluttered through his stomach.

Levi let go and madly scratched at his bed sheets while curving into Eren's oral grasp. Eyes tightly closing and opening, Levi was frantically hoping that he could hold off his orgasm. The noisy sucking sounds that Eren made were not helping. He placed Levi's leaking cock in his hand as he mounted Levi, who was too far into his bliss to care about the change in position.

He fell further into a haze as Eren lapped at the beads of sweat collecting at the space between his neck and shoulder. There was a moment when Eren brought their faces together as he began jerking Levi off furiously. Levi thought that Eren was going to say something to him but he seemed to have changed his mind. Instead he softly kissed Levi with a sense of urgency. Going over the brink of ecstasy, Levi dug his fingernails into Eren's shoulders to steady himself.

Even as Levi came, Eren's lips never left his. He thrashed uncontrollably while releasing muffled cries of pleasure for his lover. It was over in an instant and Levi would have given anything to hold on to the high just a little longer. The novelty of Eren's caresses was something that he did not want to let go of yet.

Afterwards, Levi suddenly felt heavy and weak. Eren slid himself and the used condom off of Levi and disappeared into the bathroom.

"I should log off," he whispered once he reappeared with a lukewarm towel for Levi. The washcloth went over the skin of Levi's inner thighs and his now flaccid member. "No, you don't have to." Levi tried sitting up but surrendered and allowed Eren to finish his ablutions.

"I want you to sleep with me." Levi drawled with some desperation. The last thing he wanted was for Eren to walk out of his life like every other potential partner had the tendency to do.

Eren threw the small towel into the hamper before lying by Levi's side. Levi heard him murmur something but slowly shook his head to show that he did not catch what Eren had just said. He thought he had heard Eren apologizing, but he fell into a peaceful slumber before he could give it any more thought.

xxxXXXxxx

Senator Theo Magath tossed his last cigarette unto the ground outside the Reiss hotel in a sober side of downtown Mitras. He stared at the back his guard's Cyber Police Brigade jacket, decorated with a green unicorn and its white mane flowing into the design of a shield. Magath expected better than some child's illustration of a horse to represent the Cyber Police Brigade. He was one of the politicians fighting to get that Paradis bill approved by the Senate, after all.

A retired military commander, Magath got pleasure from controlling and dominating his subordinates. Now, as a participant in this Virtual Community for a sexual behavior study, no one was drawn to the thought of surrendering power to him. It was beyond disappointing.

"I'm logging off," Magath crushed his empty Marlboro box with the heel of his boot and prepared to dismiss his bodyguard.

"So soon, Senator? The Tyburs were hoping that you'd take part in the experiment." The officer said upon Magath bringing up his virtual logoff screen. Magath glowered at the outspoken officer. "How can I participate when there's no one willing to humor me?"

The guard was not fazed by the retired commander's bitterness. Clad in a uniform that included a patrol cap casting a shadow over their face, the officer offered, "Perhaps you'd prefer the Underground, Senator."

Magath paused before dismissing his log off screen. "The Underground was simulated into Paradis?"

"Of course. Eldia-Marley sought to make the VR experience as real as possible. If the selection up here in Mitras does not please you," the officer's voice lowered before finishing. "We can always find someone more _accomodating_."

"Very well then," Magath straightened. "Take me there."

The Cyber Police Officer dutifully summoned their virtual keypad. After typing in the coordinates for the Underground, the officer turned to the Senator. "We'll be there soon."

"Just get on with it." the Senator muttered.

Mitras pixelated into tiny dots of light as the dreary surface of the Underground formed around them. "This way, Senator," Magath was led down a dark tunnel. After the long walk, they arrived at a brothel similar to one that Magath had frequented back when he fought in the Mid-East.

His guard appeared to struggle to match the invigorated man's pace once they were past the building's rundown doors. Inside were rows of rooms, the cracks in the doors allowing telltale moans to seep through. Obscenities bounced off walls that were constantly being assaulted by knocking from bed posts or bodies. Magath's resolve to join in on the debauchery forced him to march steadfastly down the hall until he could find an unoccupied room.

At last, there was one on the left with an angelic figure sprawled face-down across a satin-laced inside.

Firmly shutting the wooden door behind him and leaving his officer to stand guard outside, Magath raced to the soft red sheets. He harshly tugged at the angel's yellow hair. A pair of innocent blue eyes and pink lips surfaced.

Magath stepped back from the bed and ordered the prostitute to sit up on their knees. The solicitor obeyed the retired commander's words. Magath shuffled forward to place one of his callous hands between his partner's legs, covered in black loose drawstring pants. A coy hand rested on top of his. "I-I can fetch one of the girls if you—"

"No," Magath fumed. "You'll do just fine. What's your name?"

"Armin."

"Armin, you don't seem like the type of person who does this sort of thing."

"Neither do you."

Magath went to the other side of the room to undo his shirt and tie with haste. "So you know who I am?"

"I've seen your face in the papers. In articles on Virtual Psychotherapy." Armin replied before attempting to mirror the man's movements by removing his own blouse and bottoms.

"I did _not_ tell you to take your clothes off." the frightening expression on Magath's face sent an icy fear down Armin's spine. "S-sorry." Armin stammered and brought his hands to the bed's surface where he balanced his knees.

Magath finally tossed his upper garments aside and rejoined Armin on the bed.

He grabbed a fistful of Armin's blonde's hair and forced him to stare up into his eyes, a good few feet above the man with the delicate frame. Staring fearfully at the Senator, Armin tried catching his breath.

"They plant you in this VR shit? The Tyburs." Magath interrogated.

"No, I'm here on my own!" Armin managed to choke out as Magath intensified his clutch on his hair. The Senator brought up his other hand to wrap it around Armin's throat. He beheld Armin's trembling eyes and decided to cup Armin's flushed cheeks instead.

"Good, I won't have to worry if things get messy." A sinister tint colored Magath's despicable face.

Armin withdrew the pistol that was safely tucked in the back his trousers. He aimed at Magath's forehead and pulled the trigger before the Senator could even blink. Armin's target slumped backwards on the bed. Gushing blood from the man's titan evaporated into melting steam.

Acting fast, Armin pressed the bleeding man's hand to the nape of the Senator's neck to bring up Magath's desktop screen. Armin launched his own home screen and began transferring all of the Senator's files to his own computer.

From outside, Armin could tell that the brothel was filling with alarm after the ringing of the gunshot. The Senator's officer rushed into the room and lifted their cap to reveal the expressionless face belonging to Mikasa.

"The transfer will finish before the Senator's body can regenerate but the _real_ Brigade is headed this way for sure." Armin warned as his bright blue eyes went back and forth between his and Magath's screen.

Mikasa cocked the gun that Armin carefully handed to her. "I'll hold them off." she muttered before aiming at the open door.

Members of the Cyber Police Brigade were filing into the brothel. "Senator's signal is coming from here!" Mikasa heard one of the Cyber Police Brigade offers shouting before appearing in the doorway. Her bullet made a clean shot into the loudmouth's head. She could hear footsteps from the second floor rattling the room's light fixture. Sticking her head outside for a quick second, Mikasa could see more officers rushing towards their fallen comrade and terrified Paradis users adding confusion to the fiasco.

"I have a feeling that we're outnumbered." Mikasa warily glanced over her shoulder to see Armin still working on getting all of Magath's data. "Can't we finish this up somewhere else?"

"I can't switch locations in the middle of a transfer. Plus his titan is regenerating quicker than I expected." Armin shakily observed. "If we shoot again, we'll give away our location."

Pretty soon the Brigade was nearing their room after rummaging through the others. "Armin, is the transfer complete?" Mikasa yelled over the disaster.

"Yes, but what's wrong with him?" Armin watched the Senator convulsing on the floor. "He stopped regenerating and just started having a seizure."

"We can't worry about that Armin; those other guards will be down here soon-"

"He'll die if we don't help him, won't he?" Armin lost his nerve.

Taking Armin's hand, Mikasa brought her hand up to the nape of her neck. "He'll be _fine_. Let's get the hell out of here before Eren starts worrying."

Armin gave Magath one last glance before following Mikasa out of the virtual realm.

xxxXXXxxx

Eren sat in the basement of Mikasa's duplex discarding his 3DMG. To his left were Armin's and Mikasa's unconscious forms. Like Eren, their Paradis devices were connected to separate laptops. In the corner of the room was a large desktop computer that occasionally blew hot air at its processor warmed up.

When the two users came to, Eren rushed over to their sides. Armin appeared unsettled but quickly started removing Paradis and the 3DMG and going after his laptop. When Eren shifted his gaze to Mikasa for some indication, she forlornly shook her head. Eren didn't bother with prying.

"Transfer was successful. We ran into some trouble but we're alright." Mikasa coldly reported. "Who showed up at the ring?" She requested the status of Eren's part of the mission.

"Ogre did. Once word gets out that I took him down I should be able to get in touch with Kenny."

"Ogre? _Jesus_." Mikasa sighed. "I would have taken him on myself but I would have been found out. Kenny would have recognized me immediately."

Eren nodded although his attention not entirely there. Mikasa could tell that something was up.

"What? Did someone find you and Historia out?" She asked. Armin stilled as well, hands paused over his laptop's keyboard.

"No. We were followed by someone working for Eldia-Marley."

"Who? Zeke?"

"Not him. I thought it would have been that Bertolt guy that we suspected but it was someone else. I didn't get their name."

A deep silence fell over all three of them. Mikasa ran a hand through her hair. She was in the middle of walking over to Armin when Eren spoke up again. "I was able to get a list of the patients and facilities associated with Eldia-Marley's Survey Corps. The whole database."

"You didn't get the employee's identity but you managed to hack his computer?" Mikasa questioned incredulously. "Mikasa, his name is probably on one of the files." Armin concluded. "Eren, can you hook your laptop up and give me what you have?"

Eren obediently nodded and retrieved his own laptop while Mikasa kept an eye on him. Eren knew she was skeptical of his findings. Armin, who was browsing through all the files that he took from Magath, called the two over.

"Here's all his emails and electronic communication with the Tyburs." Armin noted. Mikasa seemed to forget about Eren's story not adding up and focused on the goldmine of evidence to incriminate Magath in front of her.

"Find anything you can and make sure to get rid of the copies on your laptop. I gotta call headquarters." Mikasa left Armin and Eren in the basement.

Armin waited until they could hear Mikasa on the phone before relating to Eren what had happened in the virtual brothel with Magath. "I hope he's OK. Is that wrong? He may be a criminal but he's still a person." Armin sadly confided in Eren.

"We've come too far to let our emotions get in the way." Eren's words were not as comforting as Armin may have hoped, but the blonde agreed. "You're right. I'm glad you got your part done, by the way." His smile came with the praise that he gave Eren, who felt his own advice revive a dull heartache.

* * *

The Hubby and I gotta move to our new apartment next week so the next chapter might be a day or two late (fingers crossed)! Thanks for reading and please leave a review. They motivate me (ง •̀ω•́)ง✧


	5. Chapter 5

_A/N: I don't own Attack on Titan._

Hey hey here's chapter five! Sorry for the late update. I wanted to get this out sooner but moving into my apartment was a lot more stressful than I had thought. I'm up to my neck in unlabeled boxes and unassembled furniture. I hope this chapter isn't too bad. It took a while to get into the mood to write again.

As usual, apologies for any spelling errors and grammatical mistakes.

Shout out to **akira-akisar** and **noof.1417.f** for following and to **Greenprozium** for the awesome review! I saw a guest review too! I cannot tell you all how much I appreciate it. So here's some smut lol

Took _forever_ to get this out since I was super picky about the detail. Of course it's not perfect, but I tried and I'm glad I followed through. I have newfound respect for people who write fanfiction!

Have a good week and leave a review please? ヾ(*ﾟωﾟ)

 _M rating very relevant for language, sexual situations, and violence._

Without Consequence

* * *

Rain from outside greeted Levi as he came to. His Asus laptop rested quietly in sleep mode on top of his bar height dining table. Levi didn't remember logging out of the VR realm, but then again, he must have done so while half-conscious. Thoughts of Eren flooded his mind and a heart-pang hit. Paradis left none of his senses unaffected by the experience: he could recall everything from the stench of grass when they sparred to the taste of Eren's mouth, especially how it felt on him—

Levi got up from the couch to shower. It was frustrating that his body wanted to react to memories that he longed to forget. There weren't any plans to go beyond the point of no return with someone who was dodgy about their identity. After witnessing the fighting ring, Levi was starting to doubt everything he thought he knew about Eren _and_ Paradis.

Hair dried and teeth brushed, Levi threw on jeans and a t-shirt before returning to the living room for his computer. Placing a finger on the cursor, Levi shielded his eyes as they adjusted to the screen's brightness. The time read nine-thirty in the morning and the Virtual Community website was showing Levi as logged off. He closed out of the browser and made himself comfortable on one of the kitchen stools. Now that he thought about it, he'd never felt so well rested before.

Opening _my documents_ , Levi set himself on working from home for the entire weekend. As the mouse hovered over one of the shortcut icons, it brought up a tag that read, DATE MODIFIED: FRI. 11:34 PM.

That couldn't have been right; the files were moved from a USB drive to his laptop on Friday afternoon, not halfway to midnight. Several other files showed similar timestamps. Before he could speculate the cause, hard taps at the window caught his attention. The sound wasn't coming from the increasing intensity of the rain. Levi reluctantly left his computer to brush the blinds of his window aside. Below the cloudy scenery stood a blurry figure soaked in sweats and a hoodie. He effortlessly pushed open the glass and screen covers to grant himself a view clearer than the one that long streams of rain obstructed.

It was Eren, the storm's wind wisping his long dark hair across his face by the storm's wind. Levi tossed the idea of labeling the soaking brat as a stalker. Their residences were only a few blocks away from each other and Eren had more than likely already passed _Rose Estates_ during his runs. Still, seeing the person who wielded power over Levi's desires was unnerving. Over the deafening force of the rain, he strained to comprehend Eren's attempt at communicating with him.

"Could you let me in? It's not letting up out here!" Eren shouted over the light shower turned heavy downpour. Levi wordlessly shut the window and buzzed Eren into the complex. He cautiously opened the front door when the other finished squishing his way up the building's stairs. Levi reached out and pinched Eren's arm, taut muscle very much palpable under his tan wet skin.

"Ow! What was that for?"

Smirking, Levi stepped aside. "Just wanted to make sure this is all real."

"You're supposed to do that to yourself!" Eren chuckled and entered the spacious living room. The carpet beneath him turned several shades darker as he stood there soaking it with the rain water from his clothes. Levi ordered, "Take those off. Shoes too. You're getting the carpet dirty."

At first Eren eyed Levi with an ambiguous expression. Then he bent over to untie his grass-stained shoelaces. Once the sneakers were off, he proceeded to peel his wet hoodie over his head and hand it to Levi, who couldn't help but stare as Eren began tugging next at his pants. The hem stretched loosely around the lower half of his defined hips and a wet scent from rain, sweat, and musk began wafting in the air. Normally, Levi would have found the smell repulsive, but it brought back memories of last night.

Then Eren made a show out of sliding the rest his joggers off. Levi told himself to not get sidetracked again but he feasted on the sight of the well-built Adonis standing stark naked in his living room. Undressed and unashamed, Eren stepped closer to Levi with gall. "Didn't mean to let you sleep alone. Trust me; I wanted to see you the moment I woke up."

"Well, now you see me. And I don't trust you. None of what happened last night was real, anyways. We weren't even physically together." Levi coldly stated.

"We are now."

Levi chose to not respond to that. He simply grabbed Eren's soaked garments and shoes, went to shut his laptop, and headed towards his bedroom to dump the objects in his hamper. A dry bath towel slapped Eren in the face when the man returned. "Go wash up. I'm going to start my car and then I'm taking you home."

"I just got here and now you're kicking me out?" Eren appeared hurt but Levi could have cared less. "No time for babysitting. I've got some clothes that might fit you so let's hurry this up." he nearly growled.

Once they were in the bathroom, Levi left Eren to bathe and went through his room's dresser. There were some throwaway workout leggings and an oversized shirt he never bothered to rid himself of. Levi folded the clothes for Eren to put on once he was done showering and sat on his bed. Upon his weight dipping into the mattress, Levi was immediately reminded of how good it felt to be lying on that soft surface while getting deep throated.

Not trying to get Eren or his hopes up was the adult thing to do. The wrong way of going about this situation would have been waltzing into that bathroom and fucking Eren to kingdom come. Besides, even if Eren wasn't hiding anything that the naked eye could see, it didn't mean that he could be trusted. On the other hand, it wouldn't be a bad thing to indulge from a safe distance if trust was the only issue.

The abrupt squeaking of the faucet stopped Levi's train of thought. Eren had finished showering and appeared in front of Levi with the towel draped over his shoulders. Warm steam smokily danced behind them. Eren's radiating fragrance was a considerable improvement from the reek of rain and mud from earlier.

Levi deserted the bed for his desk chair where he sat in reverse facing the bedside. Meanwhile, Eren noiselessly moved towards the neatly folded clothes on top of the bulky dresser. "Forget those. Lie down with the towel underneath you." Levi nodded towards the bed and his guest did the smallest jump to express how Levi had startled him. Rain pitter pattered beyond the confines of the walls. If anything, it set the mood perfectly.

Having overcome getting swept up by Levi's unexpected demand, Eren did as he was told with little hesitation. Facing up in the older man's direction, his damp body was put on display. Levi knew it was best to not lay a finger on him. For now, every ounce of Levi's being wanted to see Eren in the state that Levi himself had been in when they were connected to Paradis. This time, he hoped to remain detached.

Authoritatively yet invitingly Levi commanded, "Spread your legs."

Eren obliged, propping himself up on his elbows and creating a divide that invited scrutiny. Levi quietly sucked in a breath as the stalk at the end of Eren's pelvis grew solid under his gaze.

"This would be even better with you riding me." Eren cooed.

 _True_ , Levi inwardly agreed but outwardly scorned, "What makes you think I'd let _you_ fuck me?"

"Fine, fuck _me_ if you want. Or I can blow you again. You liked that, didn't you?" Even on the submissive end, Eren didn't appear any less turned on.

A shiver coursed through Levi. He'd be a liar if he denied the fact that Eren was right. "No," Levi finally said. "No touching. I just want to watch. You can shower again afterwards." He expected a negative reaction from the other but it never surfaced. "Alright." Eren huskily sighed before sitting up, teasingly rubbing the back of his left hand against his manhood that was still wet from the shower. Bringing a thumb to the bulbous tip, Eren pressed on the underside of the swollen head. The pressure elicited a low hiss from him and Levi, whose own hardness was concealed behind the back of the desk chair, savored it like music.

"Any particular reason why you'd rather watch?" Eren's vocals were trembling like the rest of his limbs, failing to remain steady under his own touches.

"Better off as the spectator than the spectacle."

"Really?" Another low moan followed by telltale creamy droplets from Eren's rosy slit. "I prefer watching you, actually."

Levi coolly retorted, "Why'd you come here? Besides getting to see me."

Before answering, Eren paused and breathed deeply. "To answer your question from last night." Intrigue lit Levi's face. So Eren did know who was in charge of the fighting ring. Still, Levi didn't want to come off as too excited to get any further details. He broke the tension with another request. "Don't stop. Go on, touch yourself."

There was some indecision but Eren resumed, allowing lubrication from his mouth to coat his erection and mingle with the dew from the shower on his stomach and thighs. The wet friction produced lewd echoes that filled the room and set Levi's heart ablaze. He held his own need to incite Eren and remained as stoic as ever though Eren could easily see through the façade. He upped the ante by barely scraping a fingernail from his right hand across his smooth chest until it grazed a brown nub. After neglecting to withhold a cry of pleasure, Eren's eyes immediately went up to Levi's. Those steel blue eyes read "keep going" although there was no actual expression there. Eren just knew the same way that Levi knew how deep down he desired nothing more than to be able to witness Eren suffer so beautifully.

"Tell me what you're imagining," Levi spoke as he rested his chin on a pale palm. The chair creaked when he shifted more of his weight forward on the piece of furniture.

Multitasking obviously not being Eren's strong suit, he struggled to stop himself from dissolving into a chorus of grunts and swears. "Everything we— _ahh_ —should have done together. _Ngh,_ your mouth on me." The gap between the bed and the desk did not make Eren's glistening cock look less enticing. At their distance Levi could observe every part of his body that was pulsating. Taking the fervent look in Levi's face as encouragement, Eren began pulling at himself mercilessly.

"What else?" came Levi's follow-up question.

Breaking into a shaky smile, Eren shot back, " _Haa—_ is that what you really want to know?"

Right, the fighting ring. More on that. Levi let his fingers drum along his cheek as he contemplated Eren's words. The answer should have been "you're right, tell more about the illegal activity going on in the Underground" but Levi got feverish just from seeing Eren's chest heave as he threw his head back and released a guttural howl. Not. Fucking. Fair. The way Eren writhed, folds of the towel below spiraling from the movement, was devastating. Then he began rocking his hips back and forth, making Levi wish he'd jump on board when he had the chance. Now he was doomed to fantasize about every thrust as Eren pushed into the air uninhibited.

"You never seem to give me any direct answers. I'd say you came here just to distract me." Levi inferred. Eren bit his bottom lip and jerked himself a few more times before ceasing his actions. "I'm not the distraction, _you_ are." He accused Levi in a hard to read manner before lying flat on his back and continuing. To Levi's annoyance, Eren's features were out of view. He'd have to do something about that.

Abandoning his chair, Levi swiftly walked over to the side of the bed where Eren's right arm twitched as it continued to flicker at a now very hard nipple. Eren lightly gasped at the sight of Levi's generously sized hard-on. Bending down to sit on his knees above the carpet, Levi snatched that hand. His impulsive grip emitted a yelp of alarm out of Eren, whose own fingers were then shoved close to his blushing golden tan face. "Suck." Levi directed.

Eren took a second to gain his composure before letting Levi guide the two digits into the moist cavern between Eren's lips. Levi kept a firm hold on Eren's wrist as the long-haired man swirled a tongue around his own index and middle fingers. Not sparing any moment to blink, Eren ensured that his slurping noises were shamelessly audible while maintaining eye contact with Levi, who kneeled beside Eren to whisper into his ear, "Slide them in."

Like the lines of rain trailing down the covered bedroom window, Eren's spit-soaked fingers travelled down his torso and underneath his weeping member until they reached their destination in between his legs. The little wetness that remained wasn't going to be enough to ease the impact of entry. Levi knew this as he guided Eren's touch yet he also understood that Eren wasn't the type to shy away from the path of torture if bliss lied at the end of it.

"Oh, _fuck,_ " Eren spat harshly when Levi slowly made Eren's fingertips press into his puckered entrance. Levi watched Eren's exposed cock twitch and weep. Just as Levi had thought: Eren enjoyed agony. Ogre kicking the living shit out of him was a prime example. Even though he took advantage of Paradis's healing factor, Eren had dove headfirst into that deadly battle last night. Levi briefly wondered if there were some sexual undertones to Eren's involvement in the ring and his presence in the Underground in general. He wasn't a bad looking guy—finding someone willing to play Dom certainly wouldn't be an issue there. Not that Levi had a ton of experience in that area. He was wise enough to be able to read Eren though.

A wanton whimper pulled Levi out of his thoughts and brought him back to the task at hand. Eren was actively shoving his digits in up to his rounded knuckles, whitening at the hotness searing through them. All the while, he rocked his hips in a lustful cadence that could have hypnotized Levi had he not chose to focus on Eren's cock, pouring with pre-cum. It messily leaked across his waist and pooled where skin met towel. "Like this?" Eren was well aware that Levi was pleased with what he was doing but decided to irk him anyways. Too wrapped up in the scene before him to say anything entirely coherent, all Levi could do was nod in the affirmative. He gave Eren's warm wrist a squeeze to indicate that Eren needed to keep going.

Letting go of Eren's arm, Levi crawled upwards on the floor to get to an angle that would allow him to run his nose against Eren's throat, vibrating from the moans that cascaded from his mouth. Inhaling the familiar scent of immaculate flesh, Levi spontaneously covered Eren's lips with his and prodded into depths that tasted realer than anything he ever had before. The flavor was sweetly airy. A hundred times better than what some virtual reality technology could offer. He felt a pleasant tingling in his own loins as Eren emitted dreamy sighs of pleasure into their kiss.

As Eren responded hungrily to the gesture, Levi could feel the walls of his restraint coming apart. How long had it been since he actually felt like he was actively participating in something like this? Years of undervaluing his ability to achieve sexual gratification had him doubting his technique in bed. It was easier to give in and let someone he thought was better take control; this approach reflected in his working and dating style as well. He was always passive about everything, from Erwin demoting him to upper class people turning their noses up at him. His instincts to fight kicked in when he needed them to, but Eren was challenging a different kind of intuition inside him.

"You're dripping. Look," Levi stole a glance at the waterfall of white gushing from Eren, whose half-closed green eyes flickered hazily. Levi placed his open mouth at Eren's neck and whispered the words "Taste it" on the thrashing man's skin. Obediently, Eren changed the fist around his cock into a cupping hand to gather the oozing stickiness. Levi watched him greedily lick at every drop, probably tasting as gorgeous as the rest of Eren did. Despite wanting to partake, Levi denied himself the privilege. They both knew where the condoms were—top drawer underneath a pair of thick winter socks—but Levi knew it would be too soon to venture down that road.

Eren repeatedly closed and opened his eyes as he came upon the precipice. Levi could tell that the light fixture above was drawing colorful spots across Eren's pupils, dilating. He tenderly ran a free hand through Eren's locks and massaged at his scalp at a rhythm that matched Eren's drive. "Fucking tease," Levi overheard Eren curse under his breath which came out labored. "I'm ready…" he continued almost in a whine. Levi's calming caresses turned into a powerful clutch. He filled Eren's field of vision and said, "I'd rather watch. Go. Deeper."

Levi saw how Eren was stretching himself in preparation for him but it would all be for naught. No intervention was needed to get Eren off. He was perfectly capable of doing that himself. Although Levi had an inclination to return the favor from last night, he felt that leveling the playing field would make Eren too confident in their strange dynamic. So Eren made a hook shape out of his fingertips already lodged inside him and arched into the wave of ecstasy. Levi could see flames of yearning devouring his body. The only thing stopping Eren from shrieking was Levi's icy glare. Needy huffs of air came out instead.

At their close proximity, Levi could feel Eren's bones rattling. Thunder loudly resonated in the morning sky and its decibels almost matched the rate at which Eren's heart was thudding in his rib cage. He was trying to sink into the towel and sheets as his orgasm started to build rapidly. Every time he hit that bundle of sensitive nerves, he had the urge to shout out. The balance between both forms of stimulation that his hands were providing couldn't have been more perfect, or at least Levi thought so. It was like a new addiction had just presented itself in the form of Eren.

"C-can you— _aah_ " Eren could not form a complete thought but tried to stop himself from going into a fit of spasms. He concentrated on being able to dwell in the sensation just a little while longer. Levi admired that amount of will power but even he could tell that Eren wasn't going to be able to hold the inevitable off. When Eren choked out "Kiss" Levi went along with it and gave Eren access to the basis of his hot breath. It was an uneven embrace since Eren continued bouncing even as they tried to align their lips together. Levi settled for Eren chaotically jutting his tongue along Levi's mouth. Levi's own soft moan suddenly made everything play out in slow motion. Just like last night, he dreaded the idea of letting this moment go. Of letting Eren slip away again. Yes, Eren came back but there was no guarantee that he always would.

Getting attached was unbecoming of Levi. He had work to do and cases to close. Whatever illicit doings Eldia-Marley was up to did not concern him. Maybe Eren was just using him. That made much more sense than someone actually wanting to be around Levi so much. Accepting such a depressing thought, however, made someone even as practical as Levi ache. Hope for the very opposite translated into how Levi rested his forehead against Eren's and groaned, "Can I trust you?"

Eren succeeded in landing a quick peck on Levi's lips and smiled, "Yes— _shit_. C'mere," he twisted his neck at an uncomfortable angle to make the last kiss with Levi before his climax more immersed. Caught in the flash of passion that Eren conveyed, Levi wrapped his arms around Eren's shoulders, shimmering in a light sheen of sweat. Everything in that moment was just the two of them. Rain replenished the earth at the same time Eren quenched Levi's thirst. Levi withdrew in time to view thin ropes of Eren's seed erupt and paint the lower half of his stomach and his thighs. Levi attempted to rise up from his knees and grab a hand towel to clear away the afterglow, but Eren stopped him. "It's ok. I'll go shower."

Levi stayed put for a second longer. "Sure. I'm just going to wash my hands."

"God, you're such a germophobe," Eren snickered. "In your defense, I guess you _were_ in the splash zone."

"Gross," Levi uncharacteristically laughed before rising to his feet and heading to the bathroom. As he slid his hands against each other under the torrent of the sink, Eren appeared behind him leaning against the door frame and said, "Not sure if you want to burn that towel or whatever so I threw it in the bin." Levi turn knob labeled _hot_ all the way to the right and dried his hands on hand towel hanging from the nearby towel rack. "I'll take care of it. There are more in the vanity too."

Eren nodded appreciatively before towering over Levi. "Thanks." Levi wasn't sure if it was his turn to say something. He thought about the fighting ring for the smallest instant and opened his mouth to speak. Eren was faster.

"We suspect that Rod Reiss is running the Underground fighting ring."

"What?"

"Historia and I aren't for sure, but that's why we were there together at the pub last night. Jaws and Comedian are working with us too."

"This has been going on long before Paradis launched, then." Levi concluded. Eren confirmed his suspicions with the downturn of his eyes. "Long before its official launch, yes. Look, I don't want to put you in any danger. Some criminals out there have horrible intentions for this system. We're trying to stop that. There, the answer you wanted. I'm not hiding anything else."

"But you have no hard evidence," Levi snapped. "Are you just some wannabe whistleblower trying to go after Eldia-Marley? The Paradis Bill? My _job_?"

"Levi, it's more complicated than that. Right now we're just investigating—"

"So that's the real reason why you're here."

Eren's mouth clammed shut in regret. "No," he tried to undo the implications his words.

As timely as ever, Levi's cell started vibrating from the top of his desk in the bedroom. He pushed past Eren to go see who was calling him.

 _Incoming call from Hange_ flashed on the caller ID. Levi quickly slid the button on his screen to answer.

"This is Levi,"

"Christ, I thought you weren't gonna pick up!"

Hange's loud outburst caused Levi to frown. "Why would I not answer my phone?"

There was some faltering on the other end before Hange found their voice. "Have you not seen the news?"

Levi quickly swiped the TV remote off his desk while keeping the phone at his ear. He turned on the television and flipped through several channels before settling on one belonging to a credible news source.

"SENATOR MAGATH FOUND UNRESPONSIVE IN HOME AFTER POSSIBLE STROKE"

The headline appeared on an article from the _Hizuru Daily_ that Willy Tybur disdainfully slid to the middle of his office's table. Nile Dok, Commander of the Cyber Police Brigade, sat on his right. Zeke was to his left. The three men sat in a very tense atmosphere.

"Virtual Community simulated the Underground brothel where Cyber Police Brigade says Magath's avatar was found." Dok cringed at the sub-headline as Willy read it aloud. He began defensively, "That was classified information, Sir." He was a clean shaven middle aged man with dark hair neatly styled. Zeke could see every ounce of him becoming disheveled under Tybur's angry glare, however.

"Then how did the _Hizuru Daily_ get one of your officers to reveal where the _hell_ Magath was found?" tiny cracks in Willy's calm demeanor started to show.

"Someone from the Brigade must have been bribed by the Hizuru." Dok guessed weakly.

"Commander, I had my doubts about Zoë's study. First you have pretend to care about people's sexual tendencies and now I feel like I just dug this company's grave. Her research is not worth our integrity." Willy scowled.

" _Their_ research." Zeke corrected.

"Cut the inclusive, PC bullshit, HR isn't here." Dok rolled his eyes.

"Y'know, it's that kind of bullshit that keeps threats like these at bay," Zeke strategically added another article from the paper onto the table.

"ELDIA-MARLEY ONLY WIDENS GAP BETWEEN WEALTHY AND WORTHLESS IN EXCLUSIVE VIRTUAL SEX STUDY DESIGNED FOR PARADIS"

Dok held his tongue and Zeke grinned. "Willy, Magath was a conservative and his image did not promote inclusivity. Let's drop him. Go after a person of color in the House to support Paradis. Like Daswani."

"The Ghanaian-American Congressman? He ran on a strictly Anti-Paradis platform." The CEO furrowed his brow.

Zeke acknowledged Willy's skepticism of the proposal. "It's true that Onyankopon Daswani has been a staunch opponent of Marley Corp for years. For him to back us up we need to come at him with something bigger than healthcare handouts for the poor." The bearded blonde leaned back into his seat. "Sir, it'll be an uphill struggle. We sweep Magath under the rug and we're still going to get dirt on the bottom of our shoes when his past comes out." Dok spoke adamantly. Willy was not feeling up to being on Dok's side today, however.

" _You_ brought Magath to me, Dok. You promised me six years ago that if Magath got elected to term, he could earn us the majority. And now we're nowhere _near_ the majority's favor for the Paradis bill." At the look of fear on Dok's face, Willy seemed to calm a little. "Zoë had a group of participants that were recruited, right? Titan X. I want you to start your search with them. Review the actions of _every_ user that was logged into the Virtual Community last night."

"That violates the anonymity that my force was told to protect. This act of cyber terrorism was probably done via a deep web server. Those are nearly impossible to trace!"

"Then you're the perfect man for the task, Commander. Make the impossible happen for us or make finding a new a job impossible for yourself." With finality, Willy dismissed the Brigade commander. Zeke stayed, relieved that Dok was out of the room at last.

"Ackerman?" he turned to Zeke and asked.

"He's hard to read. I doubt he would be directly involved with this somehow. Should we put his titan's movements at the top of our list for investigating?"

"Ackerman wouldn't have done anything or anyone for that matter." Willy chuckled. "His uncle, on the other hand, might have had something to do with this. He was a sniper in the Mid-East war. Didn't serve under Magath but most likely ran in the same circles with him. Or Reiss." His face took on a shadow at mentioning the other CEO's name.

Zeke sighed, "You speak as if the war is over, Willy."

"Far from it. But the average Joe doesn't need to know that. In the middle of pulling out of the Mid-East, some things got a little hay wire and not all troops returned. The problem is mobilizing the population here. Getting them on board. Eldia was trying to create a VR system that could replace pain with pleasurable memories in the midst of combat. It wanted to avoid PTSD that a lot of veteran soldiers dealt with after coming home. Marley's plan is essentially the same but we have more political backing.

Now we're making ourselves look like perverts pretending to care about all this sexual therapy mess. I doubt Zoë's experiment could provide any insight to memory manipulation."

"We don't know that yet," Zeke countered. "I proved that Paradis can disrupt how the brain processes memories. I'm sure we'll find other uses."

"I hope so," Willy still had his eyes on the articles. "Do you know anyone at the Hizuru?"

"No, but I can get someone in there."

"I might take you up on that. It's too risky now. We'll have to see what Dok comes up with first."

Zeke couldn't hide his annoyance. "That could take weeks."

"Then we'll just have to wait, Zeke. And we're not going after Daswani. I'm sure sexual therapy won't appeal to him either. It would be best if we kept you where you are now." The weight of Willy's words sunk in deep. Confused, Zeke wondered, "Is this about the promotion?"

"After much consideration, the board has decided to keep you on the Survey Corps as a team lead. I know it's not what was promised, but the circumstances have put us in a position where we can't afford to have people with skeletons in their closet in high places. We're letting Erwin remain as Director."

"So no co-director position either?" he was begging at this point but Willy put on a morose face and replied, "Wasn't approved for our budget. I'm terribly sorry."

"This wasn't what we agreed upon."

"After what just happened to Magath, I thought you would have seen this coming. I can't take the blowback from anyone else's past getting exposed to the media right now. Carla's case is still open and Dina isn't mentally stable enough to stand trial."

"I'm still using Paradis to manipulate her memories. It's been more difficult than I thought."

Willy observed, "Time is running out, Zeke. It won't be long before Paradis gets dropped and we're back at square one at trying to get this country's support for continuing the war in the Mid-East."

Zeke stared at Willy for a long moment before folding his hands together diplomatically and rising from the table. "I understand sir. I'll keep tabs on Ackerman."

"I know you will." The corners of Willy's lips curved into an all-knowing smile. It made Zeke sick to his stomach. As soon as he was out of the office, he reached for his phone to dial Pieck. He let it ring for less than two full seconds before changing his mind and ending the call. She wouldn't want to know about their plans backfiring. About having to change their course of action all over again.

He chose to call someone else.

xxxXXXxxx

Midday in the Underground felt like midnight. In the pub above the fighting ring, Kenny Ackerman sat at a table in the back with a glass of whiskey in one hand and a deck of playing cards in the other. A logbook the size of an encyclopedia rested on the table. No one seemed interested in gambling with him today. What a shame given how most of the drunkards were preoccupying themselves with tragedies like debt, death, and failed marriages.

His assistant, Caven, emerged from the basement of the bar with a small cell phone. She also carried a thin manila folder. "It's for you, Sir." The blonde handed the device to her boss and sat across from him. Kenny gruffly stared at the device before for speaking into it. "Siz Kenny."

"Kenny, it's me, Rod. I need to—"

"Hey! Hot Rod! Everyone, it's Hot Rod!" Kenny made a show of yelling the man's out. Some rode on Kenny's coattails and cheered Rod's name. Caven was not amused.

"To _what_ do we owe the pleasure?" Kenny returned to the line.

"You know why I'm calling you."

"Oh, I don't like to assume, Roddy." He smartly teased while tapping a finger to his temple as if Rod could see him.

"What happened to Magath could happen to one of us."

"Could happen to you, sure. Fortunately for me, I'm not using Paradis to get some strange on the side. Magath the Dumbfuck got done in at a whorehouse from what the papers are saying. They believe it was a strike from one of those Anti-Paradis groups. Someone's manufacturing equipment that's compatible with your system, Rod."

"There's no other type of 3DMG that works with Paradis. The terrorists that struck last night were on a proxy server or something. They can be traced."

"Terrorists, huh?" the other patrons turned their heads at the word but Kenny paid them no mind. "These certainly aren't amateurs. If they were targeting someone as high and mighty as Senator Dumbfuck, then I'd say they know their shit. Thanks for the courtesy call, but I think that you better be worrying about your own ass and not mine."

"I'm worried about the ring. If it sees the light of day, we probably never will again."

"I don't get much sun in the Underground anyways. And what did I tell you the day you passed responsibility of the ring to me? If you ever have to worry, then I'm not doing my job. Last time I checked," Rod thought that Kenny was pausing for emphasis but heard him flipping through his heavy book.

"...I'm hard at work. Gotta hunt down a kid who defeated our top fighter last night."

Rod couldn't help but bite. "Someone beat Ogre?"

"Using a rather unorthodox method, yes. Could mean bank."

Nothing was spoken for a few moments. Rod's voice was exasperated when he finally tried to make sense of Kenny's words.

"I know you've got this under control. But don't for a second start letting your guard down. You say it could have been an Anti-Paradis group but it could have been those Tyburs too."

"Hey now, I remember saying 'Rod, don't rub dicks with that pansy-ass prima donna Willy Tybur' _before_ he started giving you problems. You wanted to get that bill passed but now it looks like the only thing getting passed around there is shit."

"Jesus, Kenny, _language_."

"Scuse my fucking French, then." Kenny talked back. "Rod, I'll have my people look into it more. It's too soon to start pointing fingers." the phone was slammed down. Caven picked it up and placed it in Kenny's glass of liquor. "Too soon for that. I need you to go over Rogue's file with me." Kenny rubbed at the stubble on his chin before letting Caven move forward.

"What you'd find out?" He held out his hand for the blonde, who placed the thin folder in his grasp.

"He actually registered a couple of months ago. Real name's Eren Yeager."

"Yeager? Like the Beast?"

"They're half brothers, Sir."

Kenny leaned back in his chair and chewed on the thought. "Now _that's_ interesting. I would have preferred the older brother, but he thinks fighting is 'unethical' and 'war is bad'—fucking hypocrite." he bitterly laughed.

Caven watched Kenny as he perused Eren's file. "Nothing too remarkable here. Were you able to find any connections?"

"His adoptive sister is Mikasa Ackerman."

"So the Yeagers adopted her, huh?" Kenny searched through the small collection of papers for a copy of a family portrait. "This must be the other woman. Doesn't look like Zeke's mother."

"That's Carla Yeager. There was a story on the news about her murder. Zeke's mother was supposed to stand trial but doesn't have the capacity to do so now."

Kenny clicked his tongue. "This Eren's got a hell of a back story. A cash cow with this amount of leverage sneaks in here and you're expecting me not to have some qualms about this?"

Caven shook her head. "Of course not. I just figured it's best to be aware. The Cyber Police Brigade may come after one of our people. He could be a mole."

"We don't want that…" the ring leader rasped. "But he took down Ogre. Kid's obviously not just doing this for kicks. We can always take care of him if things get out of hand." Kenny shuffled the deck of cards and started dealing Caven a hand. She wasn't into it but had a deck stacked before she could even protest. Kenny moved fast. "Jesus, now we gotta be paranoid about who come in here. Hate it when one bad apple spoils the whole bunch."

Curiosity getting the best of her, Caven questioned, "What exactly is our plan going to be?"

"Let's get Rogue back in here and we'll go from there."

* * *

I won't have internet until the 8th because I procrastinated on getting it set up. Sowwy (;ω;)! I _will_ find the time to write. It's a lot of fun~ Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Leave a review please? Oh and enjoy your labor day for my US readers!


	6. Chapter 6

_A/N: I do not own Attack on Titan_

Happy Saturday folks! I'm still going back and forth between Microsoft Word and Google Docs with my phone's 4G. It's a serious pain in the ass and so is setting up my internet service.

I got to spend the whole day with my husband this past Monday. He's currently working nights and I miss him a ton. We're not caught up on AOT Season 3 yet and I can't bear to watch it by myself!

Anywho, this chapter gets back on track with the experiment. Yay! Some very brief, scientific (?) descriptions of…you guessed it, sex! Hope this chapter isn't too jumpy.

Also, I'm not a physician therefore the technical/medical jargon is not accurate. As usual, I apologize for any misspellings or grammar mistakes!

Special thanks to **Greenprozium** for the review! I found out that Word has been auto-correcting your username so sorry for the inconsistency. Should be fixed by now. I'm glad you think the story is taking off \^O^/

Lastly, prayers to victims of the Earthquake in Hokkaido. Support Japan's Red Cross and make a donation to help with relief.

Without Consequence

* * *

The lab was surrounded by small holographic projections of titans in constant motion. Some were walking, dancing, or simply standing still. Hange and their assistant Moblit, who had been monitoring the Virtual Community since the launch a few hours ago, could only see the titans in a mixture of pixels and infrared. As Hange read the vitals on a few passing users, a flashing red light on a small recorder next to the psychologist blinked like a metronome to the silent symphony. Moblit quietly placed a full mug of coffee next to Hange and they mouthed the words "thank you" before continuing their work.

" _Subjects were not assigned to any particular partners. Free reign was given to ensure that the environment was as close to actuality as possible. Simulations of firearms and illegal substances were prohibited. Within an hour of the launch, several users have supported my hypothesis on anonymity and sexual encounters in virtual reality. Time: quarter to eleven. No sign of Titan X recruits as of yet. I'm concerned that the population in my data will be skewed to mostly the upper class. It is crucial that we have a diverse sample to focus on for the first day of the study. Until one appears, I will focus on the users that are currently present."_

Hange used their free hand to expand on the view of one titan. The small imitation of the human form flickered. It was undeniably in the state of copulating. 3DMG connected its body to Paradis, sending small harmless jolts of electricity to the brain to allow cerebral activity to be picked up by the system. Hange resumed recording.

" _Responses suggest the latter stage a sexual-response cycle_. _User's heart rate and blood pressure has risen. Systolic at one hundred seventy. Hypothalamus is releasing oxytocin and endorphins. User is engaging in sexual activity. Presence of Estrogen in the blood stream—per user's profile they identify as a female. Mostly heterosexual."_

The pace of intercourse increased before slowly reaching a plateau and then ceasing altogether.

" _Heart rate decreasing. Post-coitus hormones present. Uterus showing wave like contractions and clitoris has retracted in foreskin. Avatar is showing signs of falling into unconsciousness—they've logged off."_

They were surrounded by holographic displays like these, filling all four walls of the lab. Hange tried to hide their disappointment as every titan they swiped through was not a recruit from Titan X but a subscriber who could afford the steep price of both Paradis and 3DMG. Most of them remained online long enough for Hange to record physiological reactions but then they would disappear shortly after climaxing. Hange grew tired of such predictable sexual events and started ignoring other titans to seek out the ones they had invested so much hope in.

At some point Hange stopped the recorder. The sound of a chair's legs squeaking against the linoleum was followed by Moblit joining them at the lab table. "I know that you wanted to save this part for last but what about the Underground?"

Raising their head up, Hange stared at their assistant. "Let's change locations then."

It was like the difference between night and day. As the interface of the Underground loaded in place of a virtual Mitras, poly-rhythmic shadows of titans fell into view. The difficult part was not being able to match the titans up with other participants in their sexual acts. Every user was to be studied individually but Hange found it aggravating to not have the full picture of a user's sexual motivations. Still, they made do with what they could and began jotting down notes for the nearest hologram and turning their recording device back on.

" _Multiple penetrations. It's like they're trying to achieve multiple orgasms_." They pointed at the figure with some surprise. "I see that," Moblit laughed. Hange noticed the awkwardness between them as the erotic scene ahead played out excruciatingly slow. "I'm sorry. I can get another computer hooked up in the other lab if you'd rather divide and conquer." They whispered with their hand covering the mouthpiece of the recorder.

"It's ok. It's just different from reading about it, you know? You'd never think that technology would get us this far." Not five seconds after Moblit spoke, the titan before them dissolved into pixels and nothingness. "They don't stick around much either."

Hange made a sound of agreement and let their hand swim through the tides of titans, each one engaged in some showy sexual act. The Underground was a gold mine for the unconventional. Hange didn't want to seem too enthusiastic but they were excited to see such diversity. There was still no sign of a Titan X. "Who do you think _is_ here?" Hange turned to Moblit, who thoughtfully answered, "I don't know. Adulterers? Lonely people?"

A faint smile spread across Hange's face. "Criminals, sex workers, sinners. Same ol' same ol' just in a new medium." They sighed before taking interest in a titan that seemed bound by their wrists and ankles. It quivered and tensed before curling its back in response to an invisible stimulus. Hange figured a whip or a paddle. The titan's skin showed bruises but the muscle tension and blood pressure increase suggested arousal. Recorder on.

" _Peripheral arousal system exhibits responses to touch and possibly sight. Taste, smell, and sound aren't applicable here as our means to observe are limited. Sexual response shows excitement in cardiovascular system. Rise in testes, widening of urethra. Subject may interpret humiliation as part of a sexual fantasy, contributing to his automatic and controlled cognitive processing. Feedback reinforced by sensation from genitals and spinal cord reflexes_."

Hange scoped through several more scenarios like these. Each one more extreme than the last. At first they had been appalled that a place like the Underground had been included in the virtual world but it certainly brought out some interesting data. When they eventually found bodies resting in exhaustion, Hange noted that they looked like "corpses on a battlefield." They grew weary of studying so many events and swiping through the plethora of tiny holograms. "Eldia-Marley doesn't just want to see people going at it." Hange placed their glasses on the table next to the recorder, no longer beeping. Rubbing at the bridge of their nose, the psychologist brought a confused look out of their assistant.

"When we were in Ragako, I couldn't help but sense that this study was getting taken the wrong way."

"It's a very anti-Paradis region of the country."

Hange nodded. "Not just that. There's a history to that kind of opposition. It doesn't just come out of nowhere. All I could find out was rumors of experiments dating back to the Mid-East War." Moblit remained quiet as they went further. "Cruel disregard for human life found its way into laboratories. War criminals were granted immunity for bargaining information on the messed up things that they did to prisoners. It's just not common knowledge yet. But looking at _this_ ," some of the titans were fighting and Hange emphasized their point by zooming in on the vitals of an avatar delivering a series of punches into what seemed like thin air but was actually another person. "I can see that the brain can process it all the same. Violence and pleasure. It's disturbing."

Before they could say anything else, Hange saw a titan's skull going up in blue flames out of their peripheral vision. Moblit must have caught on to the noiseless explosion as well since he was racing to the part of the lab where the titan lay convulsing in mid-air. He pointed to Hange's desk. "The recorder—"

"I got it. Call the Brigade immediately." Hange pressed the red button and began putting the scene before them into words. " _Brain's electrical activity is rapid, unpredictable. Titan showing rapid spasms. Could be symptoms of an epileptic seizure. Heart is racing. I've had my assistant notify administrators and Cyber Police."_ They stopped recording and gazed in astonishment at the phenomenon. Weapons of any form were banned so Hange was beyond perplexed.

"What did they say?" Moblit was asked as soon as he returned to the lab from his emergency phone call.

"They're handling the situation. The user has been identified as Theo Magath."

"The Senator? Jesus Christ…" Not realizing that they had been standing, Hange sat back down in one of the chairs. They half expected every mode of communication in the lab to start buzzing or ringing. Moblit placed a comforting hand on their shoulder and said, "We should put this on hold for now. Someone's going start wanting answers soon and we can't get caught in the crossfire."

"Y-yes, you're right." Hange got a hold of their panic. The switch to the monitoring system was no more than a short distance away but something stopped them. Another small hologram of a titan. There was the X code on it. Despite the situation, Hange was elated to see one of their recruits. Why it decided to turn up now confused the psychologist. "Time?" they looked over their shoulder at Moblit, who glanced at his wrist watch and replied, "Eleven thirty-four."

Reluctantly, Hange got up to flip the switch to the lab. Everything shut down light by light. With Moblit not far behind them, Hange exited the building and found their car. Since their assistant seemed more alert, he drove them both back to Hange's home, a solid twenty minute drive from Eldia-Marley's campus. Hange was still out of kilter as they stepped through their house's front door. Moblit convinced them to lie down on their couch while he made them something to drink.

By the time he approached the psychologist with a warm cup of chamomile, they were already asleep. The night had been a big blur and Hange awoke with a blanket wrapped around of what had passed came back. They threw the cover off and reached for their cell phone. Moblit was already by their side with a tablet. "It's everywhere. Not sure how it got out."

Adjusting their glasses, Hange sat up and focused on the electronic article that Moblit had pulled up. It was one from the _Hizuru Daily_. Given how their mind was still fuzzy, Hange couldn't pay much attention to the title. Something about the gap between the wealthy and worthless. "Shit, I have to call Levi." They suddenly recalled that Levi was one of the Titan X recruits. Had he logged on at the last minute that moment in the lab?

"Won't that look suspicious given our situation?"

"Yes, but I want to make sure he's alright. We weren't at the lab all night like we had intended." Speed dialing Levi's number on their landline, Hange waited for their friend's response with apprehension.

"This is Levi," his voice was steady. Hange felt some calm.

"Christ, I thought you weren't gonna pick up!"

"Why would I not answer my phone?"

Moblit was looking outside the window, revealing news trucks and reporters swarming the front lawn. Hange's headache grew worse as they stared at the mass of people outside from where they sat on the sofa. They finally returned to their phone call. "Have you not seen the news?"

A few beats later, Levi responded, "Christ. Are you alright?"

"I'm _fine_ , Levi. It was _you_ that I was worried about. As you can imagine, Eldia-Marley is going under fire for this. We need to meet so I can get your side of the story."

"What story?" the team lead sounded offended. "You don't think I was involved in this, do you?"

"Of course not. Hey, I'll tell you more later. Give me an hour and I'll be right over?"

Levi was standing in the center of his bedroom with his phone in hand. He brought his eyes back up to Eren, who was watching the television in a way that didn't suggest shock but didn't rule it out either. "Sure." He ended the call. Turning his attention back towards the current situation, he demanded, "Go shower. I'm taking you home for real." Eren didn't object and quickly made himself decent after his second round of ablutions. They headed downstairs together and got into the jeep. Levi felt déjà vu from the night he first took Eren home after dinner at Zeke's house.

The car was silent save for the rumbling engine and the sound of light rain hitting the windshield. Levi placed his hands on the steering wheel and questioned, "Did you have anything to do with this?" Eren did a double take. "I can't believe you'd even—"

"Yes or no."

"I was with _you_ last night. Why would you think I'd be capable of doing something like this? It's borderline terrorism."

Levi put the vehicle in drive and signaled before going out into the street. "I think it's funny how I can never get a straight answer out of you." He mumbled darkly. Eren knew a lot about a titan's ability to regeneration under Paradis and the fighting ring. Levi wasn't the most politically savvy person walking the earth but he was aware that Magath had some strong ties to Rod Reiss and the Paradis bill. Before he could build on what little confrontation had started between him and Eren, Levi's jeep was rolling in front of Eren's duplex. "Get out." He unlocked the passenger side.

"When can I see you again?" Eren asked cautiously.

"If you want to keep me out of danger then you'd best keep your distance."

Eren pressed the handle to the glove department ahead of him open and began rummaging for something. Levi scowled, "Don't touch that." Eren apologetically lifted his hand and mumbled something about needing a writing utensil. He then expressed some joy at finding a pen and a piece of junk mail. Levi should have thrown it out when he had the chance but sometimes he liked clipping coupons. When he was handed a strip of paper with a series of numbers written on it he felt his heart sink.

"I mean, if something comes up or you need any help," Eren began sheepishly.

"Thanks." Levi muttered, unsure if he should have just tossed the piece of paper out the driver window and let the rain take care of it for him. But that would be littering and Levi didn't do littering. He stopped Eren as the younger man made a move to get out of the car. "Thanks for last night. For coming back. And for telling the truth." He noted how Eren winced at the last part.

"It was nothing. Uh, you've got my number so…"

"Yes."

"Ok."

"Alright."

Levi couldn't have been happier when Eren finally pushed the door open and left. Once he was out of sight and safely on the other side of the duplex's front door, Levi exhaled. The drive back home was quick and the rain outside was growing lighter. Gray remained in the sky and it made him feel uneasy. It was like some sort of omen.

"It might be best if I withdraw from the experiment." He told Hange when they made it to his place and was let in. The two friends sat at his dining table trying to wrap their heads around the bizarre situation that was Magath's near death experience. Apparently the senator was in critical condition. Not much else was public.

"What? No, no. Levi, it's important that you stay in this. That all Titan X recruits stay." Hange calmed before relenting, "But, if you're not participating then I can't force you."

Levi said nothing before finally looking the other way. Hange noticed his delayed reaction.

"Oh my _God_."

"I didn't sleep with anyone."

"Oh. My. God."

"Ok, I was with someone but it didn't go anywhere."

"What time did you both meet? Maybe I can pinpoint your titan—"

"I wouldn't want to put myself out there like that just for your amusement, Hange."

"You agreed to when you clicked yes on the terms and conditions. If you didn't want me all in your business you should have read the fine print."

Had to give them that. "You said one of the Titan X recruits went online during the incident with Magath?"

"Oh no. Don't try to change the subject. It's ok to talk about this, Levi. Better than talking about Magath I'd take you to the lab but I imagine it's best to keep away from there until this dies down over the weekend."

The whole time Levi couldn't help but wonder what Magath's injury meant for Eldia-Marley. Hange barged into his thoughts with their tablet, showcasing a video. "Dok is going around screwing things up. This came out this morning," a clip, titled "Yelena Jones Nile Dok Interview" started rolling.

" _Welcome back. For our viewers just joining us, I'm here with Cyber Police Brigade Commander Nile Dok. Now Commander, just quoting the Hizuru Daily here when I say that Senator Magath was found in a virtual reality brothel. Is that true?"_

" _Well, I can't comment on the location since the Brigade's job isn't to pay attention to those kinds of details. I will say that Magath's seizure—"_

" _I'm sorry, Commander, did you say seizure? The Daily said it was a stroke. They never mentioned any seizure."_

"… _It was a seizure."_

" _And the Brigade isn't responsible for knowing the locations of its users? What's their role then?"_

" _I didn't mean it that way. Our goal is to protect the anonymity of Paradis users—"_

" _Excuse me, Commander, you_ just _said that the cyber police do not pay attention to details like location. Apparently they don't pay attention to user safety either. Were there other reports of seizures?"_

" _I have no further comment on this matter. I will say that the Brigade and Eldia-Marley are hoping for Senator's Magath's speedy recovery."_

" _In time for the Paradis bill to be brought to floor?"_

The snippet ended abruptly. "Yikes," Hange snickered despite the seriousness of the situation. "I know Tybur is going to leave no stone unturned. He'll have Dok launch an investigation of every member registered for the virtual community. Luckily, you've got an alibi." They winked.

An alibi. That's what Eren was using Levi for. But that sounded ridiculous now that Levi mulled over it in his head. That brat was just a pain junkie. That didn't spell out murderous intent per se.

"We were on a server that Eldia-Marley can't detect." Levi divulged. "He's part of an illegal fighting ring that Rod Reiss may be running."

Hange leaned forward. "Levi, who are you talking about?"

"Eren Yeager. Zeke's younger brother." He didn't stop there. Levi went on to relate the entire ordeal of the other night. Of course he left out the details of what happened between him and Eren after the fight. And earlier that morning.

"Wow," they whispered. "Wait, this is the kid whose mother got murdered by the ex-wife? Why didn't I put two and two together before—Zeke's been under our noses for a while now too…"

"Hange," Levi said to bring them back to the matter at hand. "Right," Hange shook their head. "Honestly, Moblit and I picked up on what looked like bar fights in the Underground but it was nothing like you just described. If you and Zeke's brother were on different servers then the Cyber Police can't trace you. I have to say that this is pretty edgy, even for you, Levi."

"So I should stay away from him? He can't be looking out for our best interest. I just have a bad hunch."

"But that's the reason why you can't let him get away. If Eren really is connected to the people who targeted Magath are trying to sabotage Eldia-Marley, then we need to act. You could be one to rise in the ranks by exposing this. Aren't you tired of being a team lead?"

It was strange listening to Hange go on about ranks and promotions. Maybe Levi had been striving after the wrong thing all along. Mental health was the focus of his career but he didn't call the shots. He also wasn't making the smallest of dents in revolutionizing the healthcare system. Ousting Eren could be his ticket out of that damn cubicle and into the director's seat or better.

"I don't know. The plan was just to stay away from all this, not get involved."

Hange set their tablet on the marble table top. "What you just told me remains strictly between us, Levi. Your plan to remain neutral isn't going to work when you've got someone this knowledgeable working against everything you stand for." They were right. Levi couldn't stay on the passive end of things any longer.

"I'm going to try to reach out to the Titan X recruits before Nok does. It's a long shot but I'd rather find out who appeared online before that baffling buffoon. Will you help me?"

Levi frowned. He did not expect Hange to be so receptive to the whole matter. "You're asking me to help you stalk people that you recruited for your sex experiment?"

"When you put it that way you make it sound bad!" Hange guffawed. They straightened their ponytail and gestured at Levi's closed laptop. "Open that thing up, we've got some sleuthing to do."

xxxXXXxxx

Eren softly closed the front door until he heard a confirming clicking sound. He realized he was wearing slippers that he borrowed from Levi and that he had left his jogging clothes at the other's place too. At least an excuse to talk to him again presented itself. Armin had cleared the basement of all the equipment they had used to hack Paradis. Mikasa had gone to the Hizuru hours earlier to hastily present their article on Magath to the head of the chronicle. Some worry irked Eren when he thought about how to explain his actions to his sister. Investigative journalism did not entail trying to bed the target and yet Eren found himself doing just that.

A text notification went off on his phone and he saw that it was a message from Ymir. He ran upstairs to put on his uniform for the first day of work at a restaurant she had given a good word to her manager about him at. The string of odd jobs was a good cover up for him. When the Lyft arrived, the rain had stopped and Eren climbed in to meet up with his future co-workers.

The training that day was tiring. It was a Saturday so of course the place was packed. Well into the night, Eren followed Ymir around asking people what they thought of the new seasonal menu and bussing tables. He glanced at the wall clock in the small area designated for servers and saw that it already near closing time.

Small plates slid onto the metal surface. The sound of glass hitting the dishwashing pit was followed by the spray of hot water. "When we've got an hour till close and it's this dead like this you can usually start bringing in all the dishes." Ymir instructed Eren while wiping her callous hands on her apron. Although he could barely hear her voice over the sound of the cooks tidying up the kitchen and the dishwasher clanging glasses against the sanitizing machine, Eren pretended to catch every word as they headed back towards the dining area together.

Connie was chatting up the manager about his schedule near the bakery section. Ymir and Eren bussed a few more tables until they were approached by Connie. He gave the dishwasher another load to clean before turning to Eren. "Hey, Eren, your dad is here? Corner booth by the emergency exit."

Alarmed but calm, Eren thanked Ymir for the new hire training and strolled to the back of the restaurant. A lanky gentleman, probably in his late fifties or so, sat coolly in the booth with an open menu resting in his lap.

"Rogue." The sitting man acknowledged Eren.

"How did you—"

"Sit down."

Eren glanced around the empty establishment. He could hear Ymir and Connie chatting with the cooks in the back. When he rested against the cushiony support of the booth, the customer began, "I know you and your little terror squad had something to do with Magath's incident."

Now that Eren got a better look of the man, he could see how rough the years had been to him. His face was worn but energized enough to stay alert. Not at all a very welcoming appearance. "Trying to be a big shot like your sister and now you're gonna get a lot of people hurt. Including Comedian and Jaws." He tilted his head towards the kitchen.

It all clicked. This was Kenny Ackerman, the ring leader. He knew every fighter's real identity. Eren wasn't as frightened anymore but realized he finally garnered attention after defeating Ogre. He scoffed, "What do you want? I beat your champion and I can take you on too."

"I want you to get the other Ackerman into the ring."

"Mikasa isn't going anywhere near you again."

"No, dipshit, I want Levi. He fights, I get more money. Who do you think taught him how to fend for himself?"

Eren was shaking his head. "I was only with him to see if he still had any ties to you. Clearly he doesn't so leave him out of this. I'm not stepping foot into your ring if Levi gets involved."

"Well then you're hands are tied because I have no problem revealing those so called 'untraceable' servers to the Cyber Police. They'll see everything Mikasa and Armin were up to last night and you'll all be in a maximum security prison for the rest of your lives. Sounds good?"

Eren backed down. Kenny squinted before going on. "Don't worry, Rod is on to you but I can keep him guessing. Getting tired of being in his fucking shadow anyways. This place smoke friendly?"

"…N-No." Eren stammered. This guy literally just threatened to put his comrades in danger but was also offering support. Hypocritical as it was, Eren didn't care for two-faced people. "And why would you help us? I thought you supported Paradis and the military."

"I expect you to log next Saturday. Bring Jaws and the Comedian too," Ignoring Eren's question, Kenny lit a cigarette using the small flame of a decorative candle on the table. Eren's glare intensified. The ring leader strolled out of the eatery and Ymir and Connie quickly threw their friend a look before approaching the booth.

"Was that him?" scratching his buzz cut, Connie broke the silence. "Yeah. Wants us back in the Underground next week." Eren confirmed, stomach clenching at the scent of nicotine wafting around him.

xxxXXXxxx

Hange stayed around and kept Levi company for a few hours but eventually decided to face the music and return home to the press camping on their front lawn. Levi was grateful for the solitude but grew sick of it as day became night. He thought about Eren and instinctively recalled the numbers written on that slip of paper he had given him.

No time like the present.

" _Hey_ ," he typed out in his messaging app and let his thumb skirt around the send button. Pressing it quickly, Levi proceeded to throw the phone at his pillow as if it had caught on fire.

The most terrifying moment of his life came was when the thing pinged.

" _Hey, just got off work. Sorry I left my wet clothes and shoes."_ Was the response.

Great conversation so far. Levi fiddled with his onscreen keyboard before going any further.

" _I'll drop them off after I wash them. Where's the new job?_ "

" _You don't have to do that. It's a place called Wings of Freedom. They do wings and stuff."_

Not bothering to ask himself whether or not he believed what Eren just told him, Levi sighed while conjuring up a response. " _Tomorrow's laundry day anyways so I don't mind. Also, I've never heard of that place."_

" _Just because you've never heard of it doesn't mean it doesn't exist. And thanks for being a neat freak."_

Catching himself hunched over his phone expecting a response from Eren like some character out of a teen drama, Levi debated whether or not to just let the conversation die right there. He didn't want to get sucked into this but Eren had already sent another text.

" _Wouldn't mind hearing your voice right now."_ Staring at his phone, Levi wasn't sure how to reply. The app suggested initiating a voice or video call. In an attempt to swat the suggestion away, Levi inadvertently pressed the video call option.

The camera light on his phone shone and the upper right corner of the screen reflected an unflattering angle of the team lead's pale, tired face. Eren, long hair as tousled as ever, looked like he was lying in bed relaxing as he came up on the main part of the screen. He hadn't bothered with putting on a full set of clothes. It was a hot summer night, after all. A box fan buzzed in the background.

"Yeah, this could work too." Eren laughed. Once Levi was fully aware of his folly, he mashed his finger against the screen in panic, angrily trying to end the call. "Hey, don't hang up. I finally get to see you again."

"It hasn't even been a day yet, brat. Why are you so clingy?" Seriously.

Eren shrugged, "Kinda wanna see where this goes. Quick, blink if you do too."

"I'm not falling for that," Levi sneered and noted the time on the phone. Nothing got done today as far as work. "It's late, I should go." He saw some sadness tint Eren's green eyes as he said that. The app's camera didn't do Eren's features any justice in Levi's opinion. His skin looked much better up close and in person—now it appeared grainy from the low quality of the footage.

"Not holding you hostage." The shirtless man grinned, front row teeth lightly biting at his pink bottom lip in anticipation of the drop. When Levi remained staring at Eren like he was frozen in time, the other spoke up. "Normally I think I would give up. But you're really making me work for it." He boldly continued, "All this Paradis mess aside, I'm genuinely attracted to you. I don't care if you're gonna lead me on some wild chase while you deal with your own denial. I know when someone wants me too."

Tempted to come back with something witty, Levi sat up. He searched his brain for something but it came up empty handed. "How many relationships have you been in?"

"Two," Eren answered after some thought. "Oh, I get it. You want me to get tested. What are you going to do to me when everything comes back ok?"

Levi was grateful for the noisy fan in the background. It made the silence that much less heavy. "I've never been in serious relationship myself." he admitted, feeling vulnerable. Eren didn't pass any judgment, just lowly returned an "Oh..."

"Ok, take your clothes off." Eren's chipper self returned. "Excuse me?" Levi gawked.

"I thought we were playing truth or date. You got your truth so now I'm daring you to strip. Right. Now."

Was he really asking Levi to do something as ridiculous as going nude on camera? Levi turned away from the phone to avoid Eren's watchful gaze. "C'mon, it's nothing I haven't seen before. I'll show you mi—"

"Good night Eren." Levi brusquely snapped before squinting to find the end call button. Eren started protesting. "C'mon, I'm already like half way there."

"Half naked or half hard?"

"Both."

Levi didn't bother tearing his eyes away from the screen as Eren lowered his own phone down his chest and towards the top of his black boxers. He was already at half-mast. "Could you just talk to me or something?" he practically begged as he played with himself through his underwear. His voice got increasingly hoarse as the camera showed his hand picking up speed. Levi frantically searched for some nearby earphones when Eren's volume started to lose some of its restraint. The timbre of his sighs became more alluring as the sound waves traveled into Levi's ears and veins, blood coursing rapidly through them.

Not being able to see Eren's facial expressions burdened Levi with the task of imagining them. It wasn't enough to just watch Eren's cock slip through the fly pouch or to hear him curse and squirm on the mattress. The box springs joined in disharmony with the fan that Levi now wanted shut off. Holding his complaints, Levi decided to deal with the noise. He settled on letting his phone lie beside him face-up while he crouched into a fetal position, hands neatly tucked between his warm thighs. The rise is his body temperature was unmistakably the result of seeing Eren leak that familiar creamy white onto the black texture of his clothing, now sliding below his tan thighs.

"Mmm," Levi's hand almost flew to up to his mouth, which was very close to the tiny microphone built into the ear buds. Yeah, Eren _definitely_ heard that.

"I can't see you," Eren near whined.

Levi nearly ducked under his covers. "Why would you want to see me? You said just wanted to hear me talk." He countered.

"Cuz I like the way you look. C'mon," Levi's complied when Eren held the camera up to reveal a breathtakingly red face and tangled black strands of hair. The individual pixels became a little discernable but the quality would improve at random intervals. Levi grunted as he sat up and gave Eren his undivided attention. He was gorgeous, hands down. Levi's own free hand jumped back to where they were and reminded him that it was alright to get off this time. Layers of cyber security walls guaranteed that Eren wouldn't pose any danger. If anything, he was incriminating himself with his scandalous means of communicating with Levi, who found it all too addicting to just stop. So what if Eren could be considered the enemy. The enemy was fucking hot.

"When are you going online again?" Eren steadied his stroking to say.

"Not sure. This seizure fiasco has got most users pretty spooked." He replied, hating how Eren chose to talk about the dumbest things at the most inappropriate times. "I don't care. I want you to touch me again. Even if it's just for a minute." Eren determinedly confessed.

Levi couldn't have agreed more. In the moment, however, he tried to remain on the fence. "We'll see."

Taking that as a sufficient promise, Eren happily smiled and sat still. Levi was slightly thrown off until Eren said, "It's only fair that I get to see yours too."

Rolling his eyes, Levi put his phone down to get up on his knees and removed his jeans. He snuck glances at his screen and saw Eren patiently waiting to get back to their performance. When Levi picked up where they left off, he was in nothing but a tightly fitting pair of navy blue briefs. "That color really suits you." Levi was glad Eren couldn't see him making annoyed looks at that compliment.

Then Eren demanded, "Take them off," and focused Levi's view on his own exposed lower half. Faltering, Levi hooked a free thumb on the edge and pulled in a diagonal angle to give the other a preview of the course bush underneath. Letting out a sound suggesting approval, Eren carried on with his strokes. Levi noted how he leaked an insane amount. It was best to take it as a sign of admiration. "All the way."

He swore he could Eren awaiting his nude form with bated breath. Levi gave him what he was wanting and his audience hid no emotion. It was not hard to picture Eren tracing every curve and crevice of Levi's being with frenzied fascination. Eren told Levi to wait while he propped up his phone on one of the pillows of his bed. He used the remaining ones to position his body in a way that wasn't unlike the pose from earlier. Levi realized that this was how Eren was going to satisfy his wish to have Levi plow into him. By fingering himself as Levi masturbated in front of him.

He was rewarded with a full outlook of Eren's opening for the second time that day. Although it wasn't the easiest body part to see since the quality of the video chose that damn moment to go fuzzy, Levi still gripped his phone and imagined it to be Eren's waist as he propelled his hips forward. Using his own pre-cum as lubricant, Eren reenacted everything from what he had done with Levi that morning perfectly. His fingers slid in home and Levi couldn't have hoped for a better image to haunt him for the rest of his life. "Fuck!" Eren hollered. Levi watched him grab one of the pillows from behind that was sustaining him and hold it over the lower half of his face to muffle the next string of swears. The force of his intruding digits did not let up one bit and Levi didn't dare slow down either.

The vines of the ear buds would stick to Levi's flesh and provide a small friction against his arms, tensing as he felt himself getting closer to the bliss that Eren's stifled moans seem to assure him of. Eren's face was once again out of sight as he stretched his back in the opposite direction of the phone to savor the tingling sensations surging through him. Levi could only estimate how close to coming Eren was by the way his nails dug into the pillow that barely kept his outbursts of overstimulation in check.

All Levi could do was choke out his own groan as he neared his climax. Eren weakly sat up to stare into the camera and nod to reassure Levi that he too was at the end of his rope. Levi tried hanging on longer, tried to memorize as much as possible about how flushed Eren's cheeks were and how he shuddered as his fingers scraped against the sweet spot inside him. He didn't want to forget how Eren was like liquid gold pouring itself into what Levi considered the ideal lover.

Then Eren went motionless for the quickest second before erupting unto the sheets crumbled underneath him. Levi felt his own orgasm creep up on him and release itself. He almost called out for Eren but caught himself just in time. On the other end, Eren was just extracting his fingers and peacefully resting in a way that made Levi think he'd been satiated. Levi mentally cursed himself for forgetting to put a towel down. The pool of cum crept towards his knees and he made the wise choice to move out of the way and sit up.

"You're not going to sleep like that, are you?" Levi spoke into the mic. Eren raised a middle finger. He then sat up with a smirk that Levi wanted to punch away. "Acing that pillow talk by the way." Eren joked before Levi saw unease settle in. "You can hang up now. I gotta go wash up for like the eightieth time today." He tiredly waved goodbye and Levi reached over to turn the feed off. Just like that, emptiness filled the room. At least Levi was sleepy enough to not have to deal with the feeling for long. His phone vibrated and he saw that Eren had sent him an attachment.

Messenger automatically downloaded it and Levi beheld Eren flipping him off from a bird's eye view. Nice. Not finding himself very fond of the screenshot, Levi dug through his downloads folder to erase it. Unfortunately other files wanted to load that moment so he had to wait before he could filter everything by "date modified." The time stamp on the jpeg read 11:30 PM. It really was getting late. Levi recalled having gone to sleep around that time yesterday. He had to get a grip on his sleeping schedule.

Not ready to delete the photo just yet, Levi opened it again to get one last look of Eren's bratty face. Levi didn't like swooning over images so he let himself stare for a few more seconds before closing out of the picture viewing app. The time stamp was updated to 11:31 PM. That made sense because the file was literally touched a minute ago.

So that meant that all the files from Eldia-Marley really had been tampered with.

Making a hell-dash for his laptop in the living room, Levi flipped open the computer and glossed over the files he meant to open up that morning.

" _With access to your files, you can share pictures or documents but_ only _with your permission. If the server detects any hackership, then the Cyber Police Brigade or the server's administrators take action_."

As he recalled Hange's words, Levi remembered that he wasn't under Paradis's secure server when he was with Eren. That made him susceptible to getting hacked, didn't it? Hange also had said that only the user's own touch could bring up the logout prompt and desktop screen. Levi had no recollection of logging off because someone else had taken him out of Paradis. But the only other person with him that night was—

Eren.

* * *

Don't become a phishing victim! Never give your user or password information out online. Or open weird attachments with cleverly named file extensions from strangers. Even your friend's email or Facebook or whatever could get hacked. Oh, and leave reviews for fics you read to motivate writers! Teeheehee


	7. Chapter 7

_A/N: I do not own Attack on Titan_

Happy Sunday! I wanted to post yesterday but got super sick in the middle of finishing this chapter up. It's just a sore throat but I hope it doesn't get worse.

Apologies for any misspellings or grammar mistakes. Also, I will start abbreviating Eldia-Marley as EM and Cyber Police Brigade as CPB.

I hope everyone affected by Hurricane Florence is getting the help they need. As a girl born and raised in the south, I know how terrible the damages of floods can be. Stay safe!

Thanks to **Chikaraya** for favoriting and following! And to **HarumiMisaki** for following! Shout out to **Greenprozium** for the review! I agree, Levi would catch on fairly quickly to getting hacked. My only defense for his OOCness is that attraction clouds judgment. It's not a very good excuse I know lol Anyways, y'all da bomb! (0)9

Without Consequence

* * *

The _Hizuru Daily_ lied at the corner of two main streets in downtown Trost. It stood as a humble old-style building starkly contrasting the modern architecture on the opposite side. Mikasa was forced to park a considerable distance from it after seeing cars parked in all available spots. Past the front lobby and into the array of cubicles upstairs, Mikasa stepped foot into her workplace only to have all eyes become glued to her plain burgundy dress and tomboy features. Chatter about paper jams and deadlines diminished.

Mikasa ignored the unwanted attention as she walked to her desk. One of her co-workers and former superiors, Nanaba, was already there waiting for her. "Happy Monday. Editor wants to see you." The blonde greeted her. Back when Mikasa was trying to write herself out of Nanaba's shadow, she saw her as competition. Now that Mikasa had made Magath's fiasco public knowledge, Nanaba's reputation dulled in comparison.

"Where are you getting your sources, Ackerman?" Nanaba crossed her arms and blocked Mikasa's path. They were nearly toe to toe. Mikasa did an ice cold sweep of Nanaba with her eyes and replied, "That's confidential."

Nanaba softened her glare and stepped aside. "It's like you knew what happened to that Senator before anyone else did."

"That's my job."

"You're making enemies."

She didn't know the half of it. "Thanks, but I can take care of myself. Excuse me," Mikasa strode past Nanaba and down the narrow hallway to the wide open door of the lead editor's corner fortress. The room's shelves were fraught with classics from the journalism genre. Photographs of the editor posing next to some of world's political icons in a traditional kimono adorned the walls. Today she wore a white pant suit and black flat heels that nicely matched the dark-as-midnight desk supporting her backside as she leaned against it. _Kiyomi Azumabito_ shone on the desk's nameplate when morning sunlight poured in from the large windows.

"Your stories have got some people shook."

She cut to the chase, something Mikasa admired.

"Just getting the truth out there, ma'am."

Kiyomi unsheathed one her intimidating smiles. "You can call me Kiyomi. You've been here long enough. Given that we're on a first name basis now, maybe you can tell me who your source is?"

"I can't."

Mikasa expected the editor to push or pry but the mature woman refrained from doing so. "When I wrote on the atrocities of the Mid-East war," Kiyomi gestured at a framed article on the gallery behind Mikasa. "I received death threats. It didn't matter to me. No sane person should revere something as horrible as genocide. We're doomed to repeat our history if we don't learn from it."

Although Mikasa couldn't have agreed more, she stood before her boss expressionlessly. Even as Kiyomi's smile disappeared and her eyes narrowed. "What are you working on now?"

"Something on the Paradis Bill. How it'll fare in the house without Magath's backing."

"Don't bother beating that dead horse. People want to know more about virtual whore houses and this class discrimination matter you so elegantly wrote about. Are you participating in EM's study?"

Taken aback slightly, Mikasa replied, "No. But I know someone who is. I also have a relative that works for the manufacturer. We keep in touch often." If she considered fighting for power of attorney with her brothers over their mentally incapacitated father as keeping in touch.

Azumabito snorted, "Does this relative know that you're trying to run EM into the ground?"

"A machine as powerful as Paradis should not be a weapon that manipulates collective memory. You said so yourself." Mikasa retorted.

" _Paradis Launches and Syncs_ ," Azumabito recalled the title of her own archived work. "You actually read that piece. When they hired you on I was already aware of your track record. Exposé on that Underground orphanage. Involvement in covering Anti-Paradis protests. Not bad." Feeling honored, Mikasa thanked her.

"But I need you out there. Investigative journalists need to be on the front lines—not vicariously experiencing everything through their friends and relatives. I'll cover your subscription and equipment for Paradis. Someone will be in contact with you." Azumabito retreated to her tall leather desk chair and began dialing on her desk rotary before Mikasa could get a word in. Taking the editor's focus on her phone call as a sign of the end of their quick meeting, Mikasa left the suite and went back to her minuscule space.

A large number of emails and comments were awaiting her. She knew the drill—half of them would be insults and the other compliments. Between that and trying to get a head start on a follow up story, Mikasa felt like she was going to be very busy for the next few weeks. The draft of her next article stared back at her from the blank white onscreen canvas. The cursor steadily flashed like a broken traffic light.

Credit for compiling Magath's files for the article went to Armin, who discovered a lot of skeletons in the Senator's closet over the weekend. What he found was enough to put Magath behind bars or at least tarnish the warmonger's name forever. After hours of writing and rewriting the first few paragraphs of her article draft, Mikasa glanced at the wall clock overhead. Five or ten minutes before a lunch break. This afternoon she was supposed to meet Armin at a café near Trost State.

Abandoning what little she had managed to put on a page, Mikasa grabbed her keys and headed out the door. When she arrived at their rendezvous point, Armin was sitting at a table reserved for them. Mikasa felt relief at seeing Armin's remorse gone. Targeting Magath was not even the biggest part of their plan to dismantle Paradis. "Might as well paint a target on my back for the paparazzi. Writing something on Magath supporting re-invasion of the Mid-East will attract them. Then they'll go after my past, my personal life, everything." Mikasa explained after they were halfway through their meals.

"I wouldn't worry about that. Magath made people he considered problematic disappear and was bribed by both the Tyburs and Reisses into bullying other Senators to support the Paradis bill. That information alone is scandalous enough to make sure no one from EM bats an eye at you." Mikasa found the strategist's reasoning rational and buried her worries. Then her meeting with Azumabito came back to her.

"The editor wants me to join the Virtual Community. Said I need firsthand experience."

"Everything worked out just as we had planned last time. I'm sure having some fun isn't going to mess up anything."

"Hook ups aren't my thing. Plus we shouldn't be playing EM's game. It was just a bunch of upper class snobs that were logged in anyways." She recoiled at the thought of them. Armin shrugged and muttered, "Some were nice. To me, at least." Mikasa tried to stop her mouth from dropping. "Armin, did you…?"

"What? It's a sex study. Was I supposed to just sit back and let everyone else get theirs?"

"So when you said that you were doing a test run of the system that night you were actually doing something else. " she glared. "C'mon, our servers left no footprints. CPB isn't coming after me any time soon." Armin innocently laughed as he picked at his food some more. "So no one from the Cyber Police has contacted you?" Mikasa took a sip of her tap water and cautiously surveyed the cafe. It was crowded but she didn't want to risk anyone overhearing them.

"Not yet. When's your next story coming out?"

"It's still in the works. The editor hasn't set a deadline yet. I actually haven't heard back from Historia. And Eren's been so…distant." She sensed that Armin was itching to say something. "What is it?" she invited him to open up.

"It's like he just wants to do everything on his own. Bothering Zeke. Going after Kenny. Joining that fighting ring. I'm sorry, it sounds a little harsh to say but he jeopardizes everything we're working for at times."

"Armin, it's ok. You're a part of this team too. To be honest, I've felt the same." Finally standing on mutual ground, the tension between Mikasa and Armin dissipated. Armin found the confidence to continue, "It's not just his insubordination either. I wanted to wait until all three of us were together to say this but our schedules have been hectic. You know those database files?"

Knowingly, Mikasa said, "He got them from Zeke."

"No, from Levi Ackerman."

The name set up shop in the forefront of Mikasa's mind. She hadn't heard from Levi in years. Despite the success of her story on the Underground's abusive orphanage where they grew up, neither attempted to contact each other. At some point, she began to think that perhaps Levi saw it as her taking advantage of their horrible upbringing for a shot at fame. She found out through Zeke that the former orphan had started working for Paradis. She couldn't help but feel some disappointment about that career path.

A few years ago, Historia Reiss had reached out to Mikasa after a large-scale Anti-Paradis protest in Mitras. Under the alias of Krista Lenz, she wrote to her in praise of Mikasa's work on one of the Underground's orphanages. She wanted Mikasa to write on her father's plan for a VR system that could treat PTSD for Mid-East war veterans. Historia had suspicions about using Paradis on vulnerable ex-soldiers since Paradis was known as being exclusively used for memory recovery, not reality simulation. Fast forwarding to the present, the two women had rounded up a team of undercover investigative journalists in hopes of getting rid of Paradis.

Neither of them worked for EM, therefore getting someone on the inside was the biggest issue. Mikasa knew that Zeke was on the other end of the spectrum as far as Anti-Paradis support. Through him, however, she found out that Levi had been promoted to team lead for the Survey Corps. She and Eren hotly debated on getting the man on their side, but they never settled on a solution. Connie and Ymir expressed little interest in getting involved in EM's survey corps as they did not want to earn a single dollar from a corporation they could never see eye to eye with.

"Eren's taking initiative. He wants to persuade Levi to be our person on the inside."

That old tension between her and Armin came back. It was too much to ask for them to be on the same page for long. "That's too risky. We should be keeping our distance from anyone associated with EM." He warned. "Anyways, those files show Paradis's contracts with mental health facilities. Private patient info too. They're actually in the middle of convincing Ragako to convert into a pro-Paradis health provider."

"I have to talk to him," Mikasa interrupted Armin's spiel.

"You know how thick Eren's skull is."

"Not Eren. Levi."

"But how well do you _know_ him? I mean, you were pretty young when Eren's parents got you away from Kenny." Armin picked at his fingernails and stared at the place mat beneath his finished salad. He knew that Mikasa's life before living with the Yeagers was a touchy subject. Mikasa was quiet but then softly replied, "If turning against EM means bringing Kenny down, then I believe he'd risk it."

Exasperatedly, Armin glanced at his watch, "Look, I have to head back to campus. Eren's working nights at that bar thanks to Ymir and Connie now, right? Next time you see him, we should plan a real meeting with Historia. We can't have everyone making rash, spur-of-the-moment decisions because of what they _believe_." Not bothering to stick around to see the hurt on Mikasa's face, Armin placed a tip on the table and left the busy cafe. Some of the customers cast a look their way because of Armin's sudden departure. Of course this led them to recognizing the writer. Mikasa placed a twenty dollar bill on top of Armin's tip and took her leave as well.

Lunch being over, Mikasa was back at her desk staring at the unfinished draft on the Paradis Bill. Hands on the keyboard, Mikasa zeroed in on her outline; even with the other staff throwing looks her way. Leaving Eren to get Levi on their side couldn't be a wise thing to do. Armin could be blunt at times, but he had his head in the game and predicted the outcome of things better than anyone else. Taking a deep breath, Mikasa reopened her email. Kiyomi had sent a confirmation of the 3DMG and Paradis system being same-day shipped to her place in Rose.

xxxXXXxxx

All the taxi rides were draining Eren. Without a car of his own, his license could only be used for identity verification purposes. He brought the card to the care facility in Ragako. The front desk confirmed that he was related to the person he sought to visit, Grisha Yeager. This would be the second visit that month. Thinking about all the things they could talk or reminisce about was promising but the room labeled _Grisha Yeager_ held a deluded man. Eren realized his expectations had been set too high. The visit turned out to be much more brief that he would have liked. Their conversation didn't go anywhere.

On Eren's way out, one of the nice caretakers, Isabel, reminded him that his father's dementia was still in its early stages and it would be a while before he'd begin to forget important motor skills and functions. Rather than comforting, the thought was unsettling. It set off a mental countdown in Eren's mind. How much longer until Grisha would start to struggle to recognize things like facial features or voices?

"When are you due?" He noticed Isabel's baby bump on his way out. She would occasionally rub or pat her round belly. "We're in the second trimester now. I've still got about four months to go." she fondly caressed her stomach again before saying. "Hey, I hope you know you're not alone in what you're going through. I see tons of people come in to see their family members only to be ignored or not even be acknowledged. They keep coming, though. It's just what you do for your own flesh and blood, y'know?"

"Yeah," Eren nodded, appreciating the support. He then hesitated before politely changing the topic. "I have a question about his treatment."

Isabel motioned for them to step aside as a line of seniors went into the nearby mess hall for their afternoon meal. Eren knew that Grisha was going to stay in his room. The man refused to eat. There were "so many prescriptions to write and patients to treat." Only there were no prescriptions. There were no patients. _He_ was the patient and his mind refused to accept it.

After the rows of facility residents were out of sight, Isabel allowed Eren to go on. "I heard that Ragako plans on allowing some patients to have the option of using Paradis?" The redhead's congenial smile immediately turned into a frown as if to say,"How did you hear about that?" Instead, Isabel elaborated, "It's not the sex experiment thing you've seen in the papers. That's a totally different version of the system. A lot of people don't know that Paradis is also a device used to stimulate the brain to recall memories and strengthen neural signals. In the past this district has been very much against it but recent research is showing effectiveness. This facility wants to be one of the first in Ragako to welcome such a revolutionary form of treatment for our patients. I shouldn't even be telling you this."

Eren pretended to take in the information like it was news to him. He only had so much of a say in his father's health. Grisha was in Mitras near Zeke a few years back but Mikasa saw to it that he'd get as far away from Zeke as possible. Then the issue started with the bills. Grisha had a private room, a caretaker, and three course meals—yes, room _and_ board were being provided to him yet the man only used the room to sit and hallucinate about his days as a doctor. Therapy and medication on top of other services the facility provided also were not cheap. Zeke agreed to finance Grisha's care, but it also put him in the lead for deciding where Grisha would be put the next time his insurance renewed.

"Our contract with EM and the Paradis bill is a big mess right now. Surprised you knew about this but then again, you are Zeke's brother and he works there. You all must be pretty good at staying on top of these kinds of things." Isabel seemed to relax after saying that. It confirmed Eren's fear that what he read in Levi's files was the real deal. Getting rid of Magath only created a vacuum that any political puppet could fill.

"Who knows what really happened to Senator Magath, right? You can't even trust the news these days! I bet he's doing fine and will recover soon, though." Eren fought to keep himself from staring at Isabel in disbelief after hearing her support a murderer. She supported Paradis and had nothing against Magath, clearly.

"I appreciate you explaining this. Zeke doesn't tell me everything unfortunately. I'm left in the dark about some things. Being the baby of the family and all."

Isabel softly squeezed Eren's shoulder. "Zeke's a good man. He's looked after you and his father. And he's got his own family to worry about too. I'll probably be on maternity leave by the time his hard work finally starts to pay off. I'm proud of him though. You should be too."

When hell freezes over.

Eren slugged his backpack over his shoulder and waited for his Uber ride outside the facility on a bench. Some of the facility's patients were out for a stroll in the front garden with another caretaker. Staring at them in a mixture of pity and sadness, Eren thought about how his father was one of the youngest patients here. A rumbling above brought his attention to a gray sky that threatened to rain on him. Luckily his way to work arrived just in time. "Eren?" the driver, a twenty something year old guy in a baseball cap, made sure he'd gotten the right person. "That's me," Eren answered as he got into the backseat. Headed to Wings of Freedom."

"Cool. Cool. You work there?" The driver carefully waited for a Metro Mobility van to safely leave the pickup area before exiting the cul-de-sac of the facility.

"Yeah, it's my third day. Food's pretty good too." Eren opened his backpack to check for the thirtieth time if all the parts of his uniform were in there.

"Right on, man. " the driver bro-smiled before a nonstop playlist of alternative rock hits came on the radio. It created an excuse for them not to talk to each other anymore. Once the taxi was in front of the bar, Eren thanked the driver and went inside the waiting area. The first half of the restaurant was spacious and a cozy bar area that came alive at night was smack in the middle. A large flat TV screen showed a soccer game. Eren greeted the friendly hostess, Hitch Dreyse, and went into the restroom to quickly change into his uniform. He emerged dressed in all black and jumped right into bussing tables. Technically he was still training with Ymir so he didn't get any of his own tables yet. Connie said hello before slipping Eren some info about what Historia had planned for them to do the next time they logged into the Virtual Community.

"CPB's investigation is starting up. They reached out to some college kids already. I told Armin to stay on his toes," Ymir came by while Eren was stacking dishes for the dishwasher in the back of the restaurant. "He's not the type to make mistakes. I'm sure they'll get nothing out of him." Eren responded while retying his long hair to avoid letting it get in the way while he crouched over to pick up after customers.

"Yeah, you're usually the screw up, right?" the freckled woman playfully nagged. "And wash your hands. Nobody wants your hair in their food."

Eren scoffed. As if he wasn't going to do that already. "Has Historia said anything about the ring?"

"Well, she knows that Kenny's interested in you. That's the good news. The bad news is that Kenny is aware that we're an Anti-Paradis group. He's not like Magath."

Hands dried, Eren straightened his uniform out. He wanted to say something about Levi, but decided not to. "Maybe it's best I go back alone then."

"Nonsense. We're a team." Ymir whipped a cleaning cloth over her shoulder and returned to the floor. Eren followed and was relieved to see that the place was packed. Time definitely went by faster when there was so much to do. Besides Connie and Ymir, there were a handful of other servers keeping tabs on their sections. Hoards of people who just left the rat race poured into the restaurant. Connie's section was always full and the man kept himself busy with serving drinks and appetizers. Eren didn't have his own section yet so he took whatever came his way when Connie or Ymir was too busy.

"I sat someone in booth nine. Ymir said you can have it." Hitch placed a clean set of rolled up silverware at a table that Eren had just sanitized. "Thanks," he said and flew passed Connie's rambunctious customers to a less lively part of the restaurant. Eren prepared his notepad and pen before approaching the booth. He figured it was a couple but could only see the side of the booth holding a brunette donning a ponytail and an ironically non-menacing eye patch beneath a shiny pair of glasses.

"Hi, I'm Eren. Welcome to Wings of Freedom. How are you two toni—" Eren glanced at the opposite side of the brunette and saw Levi, his pale RBF lit by the cheap decorative candle in the center of the table. He was dressed in a sharp grey long-sleeved suit shirt and black slacks. Eren gawked back and forth between Levi and his companion before Levi mumbled, "Fine, thanks. You want something to drink, four eyes?"

"Four eyes" requested tap water before sliding out of the booth to ask Eren where the all-gender bathroom was. "There's a family restroom to the right in the lobby area." he indicated and was thanked before the person left him alone with Levi. Trying not to fumble over his words, Eren asked, "What are you doing here?" instead of "And what can I get for you?"

"You said this place had good wings. Thought I'd see if you weren't lying for once." the raven muttered. Eren nodded and asked, "Who's your friend? She works with you or something?"

"Dr. Zoë's doesn't use female gender pronouns. And yes, I work with them." Levi flipped through the menu and politely but sternly corrected Eren, who then realized why they had been asking for an all-gender restroom earlier. "Oh, right. Sorry. Did you want to look at the menu some more and wait for them to come back?" he tiptoed away from the booth before Levi agreed to have more time allotted for making a decision. Eren raced to one of Connie's tables that had just cleared to help clean up. Connie swung by and thanked him. "It's super busy tonight. Hey, isn't that the guy from the ring the other night at one of Ymir's tables?"

Empty shot glasses in hand, Eren told Connie that he was right but Ymir had let him take over that section while she cleared up. Hitch came by with a large tray to help collect the rest of the dishes. "Not every day you see a famous psychologist walk in, right guys?" she giddily watched Dr. Zoë head back to their seat. "I don't think psychologists and celebrities are the same thing." Connie stated. "You're telling me you don't know about the sex study blowing up in the news right now?" Hitch put her hands on her hips and scowled. Eren remembered Hitch saying something about being a psych major.

Connie snatched his tips off the table and shoved them in his pocket."Huh? I don't keep up with that crap. To me they're all just customers." he sneaked Eren a look before tending to his other table. Was he trying to call Eren an idiot for letting an EM person know where some Anti-Paradis people worked? Or was he trying to tell him to keep an eye on Levi and Dr. Zoë? Not too far away, Ymir's laid back features were curled into one of unease at the sight of Eren's table.

Eren arrived with glasses of water for Levi and ë. The pair then ordered their appetizers and a variety of wings. He was about to leave for the kitchen before four eyes excitedly added, "Could you add two glasses of whiskey? Neat." Levi looked annoyed as he fished for his ID to hand to the Eren. Carding them both, Eren noted Dr. Zoë's first name was Hange. He later returned with their appetizer and drinks. "It's Monday, Hange. We're not trying to get drunk." he overheard Levi say to his co-worker, who shrugged and reassured Levi that they could always get someone named Moblit to drive them both home.

The rest of the patrons were leaving and Eren tried his best to lend a hand while his table's order was getting prepared. Some of the servers had already gone home too. Connie and Ymir were still around, but they were chatting up their customers to get a good tip. It was like Hitch and Eren had become the appointed bussers for the rest of the night shift.

When Levi and Hange's food was finally ready, Eren headed to the kitchen window and began loading his serving tray. Ymir happened to be back there grabbing some more drinks for one of her tables. "So you fucking him?" she asked, making Eren almost drop his plates. Under his breath, he glared at her and spat, "What the fuck, Ymir?"

She smirked and whispered, "That guy's been staring at you nonstop."

"So?"

"I saw you leave with him after that fight. Call me crazy but I have a hunch that you didn't just log off after that."

"Mind your own." Lifting the tray unto his shoulder, Eren headed back out to the floor. The warm plates were carefully placed on the table mats in front of Hange and Levi. "Alright, here it is. Enjoy. Let me know if you need anything else."

Hange titled their tail towards their empty glass of alcohol. "Refill, please." Eren could see a light pink tainting the psychologist's cheeks. Out of the corner of his eye he saw that Levi seemed more composed. His glass was still half full. "Yeah sure. And for you, sir?"

"I'm good. Thanks." Levi muttered. They held each other's gazes for a moment longer than necessary. Hange started snickering but immediately brought their hand up to cover their mouth. Eren continued to fill the bottomless well of Hange's thirst for whiskey. Eventually they transitioned to fruity, less alcoholic drinks and water. Connie was wrapping up his last few tables. He turned to Eren and laughed. "Jesus, that chick is downing 'em, ain't she?"

"Apparently she's not a she." When Eren said that, Connie gave him a very perplexed look.

"Uh, they don't use words like she, her, hers."

"Huh?"

"Non gender binary, stupid." Ymir chimed in. Connie gave up and marched to the electronic cash register near the kitchen. "Don't look now but your guy's got his eyes on you again." Ymir teased. Eren wished he could chug the drink in his hand. Instead he returned to his table and gave Hange their poison. He cleared away the finished plates. After a few minutes, Eren returned to check on them and saw that Levi was sitting by himself. "Where's Dr. Zoë?" he pried.

Levi scowled, "They went to phone their designated driver. I'm sorry about them. They're dealing with a lot with all this Paradis and Magath shit." Eren watched Levi take in the rest of his whiskey. He began to wonder if Levi would be ok driving too. "How are you getting home?" Levi turned and questioned.

"Taxi."

"Comedian or Jaws doesn't take you?" Levi frowned.

"We all try not to be seen together outside of work." Eren explained.

"Then I'll drive you home."

"You sure you want to stick around that long? I'll probably be one of the last to leave tonight."

"I can wait." Levi punctuated the end of the conversation with a swig of his drink. Eren didn't try to dissuade him any further.

Hange came back, waddling back into their seat. "Moblit's coming to pick me up." they groaned to their still sober co-worker. "You should take a day off." Hange shook their head as Levi suggested this. "I'll be fine." Eren took Hange's words as a signal to leave them alone to chat with Levi. He spend a good half hour or so helping Hitch count the till for the night before returning to the table with separate checks. He ran both their cards at the register while Ymir rounded the corner to seemingly poke fun at him again. Instead she said, "I'm heading out. See you tomorrow, Eren."

Eren looked out the lobby's window and noticed that it was sprinkling. Ymir had her jacket and umbrella ready for the sprint to her Hyundai. The register's time read midnight. Soon the manager would be stepping out of their office to close up. Hitch expressed gratitude for Eren's help tidying up the entrance and took her leave as well. Lastly, Connie appeared before him with a humorous look stuck on his mug.

"What's so funny?"

"I've been giving your table drinks and forgot to ask if they even had a ride home."

"The one with the glasses has got someone coming for them. The other one just had a shot of whiskey…"

"Nah, he drank a _lot_ more than that while you helped close front of house." Connie chuckled before curiously eyeing the other. "So are you gonna take him home?"

"Yeah, I guess. I mean, we don't live that far from each other."

"You mind telling me who this guy is exactly? Is he someone that I should be careful around?"

"He's related to Kenny. If we keep him involved, I get to keep fighting."

"Jesus, Eren, you have to keep us in the loop. How long did you think you could hide this from us? From Mikasa?"

"I've got it under control." Eren snapped. Connie shot him a "sure you do" look before zipping up his raincoat and calling it quits. Eren returned to Levi's booth and saw the man trying to balance himself as he stood up. "Did someone come for your friend already? I can drive you back. I know how to Rose from here."

"Yes. And you're not touching my car." Levi slurred.

"Well then how are you getting home, genius? Oh, wait here, I gotta clock out." Making sure the drunken man stayed put, Eren cleaned the grabbed his things, clocked out, and lead Levi to his jeep in the parking lot. The manager started shutting the lights off and left the establishment with the dishwasher following behind. Eren watched the other cars leave the lot and Levi reluctantly handed Eren his car keys.

"Hey, I'm gonna open the door now ok?" he eased Levi into the passenger seat of the jeep. Eren hopped into the driver's side and tried not to burst into laughter at how high the seat had been positioned. He pressed the button on the side that would lower the elevation. Key in ignition, the jeep started to warm up as the rain outside intensified. It felt great to be behind a steering wheel for a change. Eren glanced at Levi to see the man sulking. His loose black strands were falling into his hazy eyes.

Inside Eren's backpack was a small lukewarm bottle of Ozarka. He handed it to Levi, who listlessly took the drink in his hands. When the man started giggling, Eren raised a brow. "You had one of these that night we ran into each other." Levi muttered. Whiskey mixed with some other flavor of an alcoholic beverage filled the tight air of the car. Eren awkwardly twisted his torso to try and get Levi's seat-belt on. The strap seemed to get stuck in the holster, however.

Figuring it would be better to have Levi lie back, Eren lifted the lever that would have the top part of the seat descend. A hiccup exited Levi as he was unexpectedly forced downwards in a swift moment, taking them both by surprise. "Oh, shit! I'm sorry. I should have done that more slowly," Eren cringed and unbuckled himself. He climbed on top of Levi's body to tenderly place him back in the seat at a comfortable angle.

"S'ok. Wait, no. Tryna kill me?" Levi softly pushed his hand against Eren's chest.

"No, I'm not trying to kill you. C'mon, sit up a little."

"Know what you did, Eren." the words hung thickly in the air alongside the scent of alcohol.

"What are you talking about?" Eren placed his knees on either side of Levi's hips and sat up.

Some steel blue shone through Levi's half-opened lids. "Files. It was you. Stole them from me."

Levi quickly rose up and grabbed the seat belt strap in an attempt to secure it around Eren's neck in a choke hold. Unfortunately being beyond tipsy inhibited his ability to see straight. He angrily pushed the strap against Eren's shoulder. The long haired server had no trouble pushing Levi back down unto the seat.

"Didn't want to believe it because I started liking you. Fucking idiot. I'm an idiot..." Levi cursed as he brought an arm up to cover the upper half of his face. Eren stared down at him. "Why? Am I just convenient for you?" Levi's breaths were coming out in hitches; as if he was trying to stop himself from sobbing. "I'd report you to the CPB."

"No, don't get them involved." Eren nearly pleaded. "Levi, trust me—"

"Stop saying that. I _don't_ trust you. I'd rather be the one to bring you down _anyways_." the distraught drunk drawled, emphasizing his statement with a knee to Eren's gut. It caught the other off guard and made him double over, head against Levi's chest and eyes watering in pain. Then Eren felt Levi's hand grab the base of his ponytail and tightly draw their faces together into a searing kiss. Not sure what to make of the shift in dynamic, Eren decided to fervently return it. Out of thirst for more, he shifted all his weight unto the seat and Levi's body to bring their mouths even closer.

At that moment the interior lights went off and the inside of the jeep became shrouded in darkness. Eren could hear Levi's heartbeat underneath him, outdoing the loud tapping of rain that steadily came down on the car's exterior. Though desire reflected in Levi's pupils, Eren could tell that he was clearly not thinking like his usual self. "You need to get home. We shouldn't be doing this here." Eren tried to sit back up as a show of not wanting to take advantage of the situation.

"Don't care." Levi clumsily loosened the buttons of his own shirt with one hand and tugging at Eren's stained black T-shirt with the other. Taken aback, Eren remained positioned above, halfheartedly hoping that Levi would give up. He didn't. Furthermore, the look in his eyes begged Eren to reciprocate the enthusiasm. "You got what you wanted from me. This is what _I_ want." Whiskey still on his breath, Levi shoved a demanding palm down Eren's pants. It groped mercilessly at his boxers and Eren moaned from the contact.

The hand retracted and Levi moved them both to the backseat of the car. A feral shadow came over him before he started tearing at the rest of Eren's clothes. Once the barriers of thread were removed, Levi rested on his heels and gazed down at the familiar valley of tan skin and muscle before running his fingers across it. His mouth followed afterwards, hungrily trailing along every crevice. Then he reached the defined V-shape of Eren's hips and greedily bit into the flesh.

Truth be told, Eren hadn't envisioned them doing this in the backseat of Levi's jeep. Location aside, he was overjoyed. When Levi's hot mouth took Eren in up to the hilt, he could see stars. His hips automatically bucked in response while needy cries bounced off the surfaces of the car. Levi took them as encouragement and increased the friction of his tongue against the underside of Eren's hard cock. Eren frantically grabbed at the material of the seat below him to not lose all control. Each time the head reached the soft, warm back of Levi's throat, jolts of pleasure washed over him. Moonlight shone into the vehicle to highlight the lust-ridden expression on Levi's face. The drunkenness behind it sent Eren guilt tripping. As much as he wanted to give in, he couldn't. He grappled the pool of hair beneath him and forced the other to release his oral grasp.

"You don't like it?" Levi self-consciously pulled back until he was against the car door handle. "What? No, this is _great_. It's just... not you. It's the whiskey and whatever else you had to drink." Frustrated, Eren sighed, already missing having Levi going down on him. Levi was soon straddling him again and bringing their lips together. This time the salty flavor of Eren's pre-cum was accented by the remnants of Johnnie Walker and maybe tequila. It all seemed to melt into a bittersweet concoction that only Levi could offer. He wrapped his arms around Eren's shoulders and rocked his clothed erection against Eren's bare one. When they finally separated, Levi moved his attention to Eren's neck and collarbone.

An ambulance came blazing down the nearby street. The irritating sound of the sirens slapped Eren back into reality. Levi, though still very much shitfaced, seemed alarmed as well. "I'm taking you home. We can't stay here. There's parking ordinances." Blindly searching for his clothes, Eren chastised himself. He found clothes and kindly let Levi sit up so he could redress. Levi buckled in, unfazed by the coolness of the seat belt on his naked chest.

Now fully dressed, Eren crawled into the driver's side and drove out of the parking lot. By the time he reached _Rose Estates_ , Levi was out cold. "Wake up. We're here. And I need your keys to get in the building." he whispered while softly shaking the raven. Levi mumbled something and pointed at the small storage in between the driver and passenger side. Eren opened the latch of the compartment to drag a set of house keys out. A light struggle later, he managed to get himself and Levi safely into the unit. In the darkness he held onto Levi while blindly feeling his way to the bedroom.

Realizing his backpack and Levi's shirt were still discarded somewhere in the jeep, Eren left the team lead to sleep on top of the bed covers and made a quick round trip to the car and back. Levi had nestled up against a pillow before losing consciousness. Joining Levi on the bed, Eren laid face up staring at the ceiling while hearing Levi's heart find a steady rhythm. He didn't want to check his cell phone—Mikasa probably wanted to know where the hell he was at this time of night. Levi's phone was probably in the car but Eren never saw him with it.

Exhaustion settling in, Eren shut his eyes and drifted into dreamland. Knowing that Levi was close by made sleep come easily.


	8. Chapter 8

_A/N: I do not own Attack on Titan_

Happy Friday! Apologies for any misspellings or grammar mistakes.

My sore throat turned into a full out head cold. It's _nasty_ y'all. Sorry this chapter is so short.

Have a good weekend! And don't catch a cold!

Without Consequence

* * *

Zeke carefully removed the Paradis headset from his mother's golden hair. She slowly matched her line of sight with his and whispered, "I can't believe I did such a terrible thing."

He stopped himself from erupting into a hurrah. After years of hard work, Zeke pulled apart the fabric of this woman's reality and weaved the lie that would free him from blame. It was still too soon to celebrate. Comforting his mother, Zeke embraced her. "You were delirious that day. That's why you've been here all this time. It's ok now."

"I haven't even been able to watch my grandchildren grow up. They don't even know who I am.." Tears began to fall from her sad blue eyes. "What do I do?"

Guiding his mother's hand, Zeke placed the wrinkled limb on the white table that held a light stack of papers. "The doctor's already done psych evaluation. You're capable of standing trial, you can come clean. Grisha can rest knowing what really happened." Zeke handed the woman a ballpoint pen. "Just sign this confession." The line above her name, _Dina Fritz_ , lied at the very bottom of the sheet.

"Will I be released from here if I sign this? The next step is prison, isn't it?"

Shaking his head, Zeke stood behind his mother and not-so-softly stuck the pen between her fingers. "I'll make sure that doesn't happen. For now, we need to close this case."

"Yes, of course," Dina shakily brought the tip of the pen to the signature line. Zeke anxiously pointed at the exact spot where he needed her to sign. The sense of achievement running through him became scorching pain searing through his left arm. Without a split second for him to react, Dina had taken a hold of her son's hand and drove the pen through the palm, splattering a color on the table that gave the immaculate surface a classic peppermint pattern. The door to her room flew open and in rushed two men in pearly white scrubs.

"I know you killed her you monster! Don't think you can change my memories with this machine! And your little experiments are _not_ my grandchildren!" She screamed at the top of her lungs while Zeke staggered against the wall in shock. "Fuck! Call a medic, now!" he yelled at one of his mother's caretakers. The one that stayed behind took out a syringe to sedate Dina. Gritting his teeth in anguish, Zeke slid against the wall and tried to remain focused as he tore the pen out of his hand like it was fucking Excalibur. The other caretaker came back with a tourniquet.

"I won't hesitate to do to you what I did to Grisha." He spat at the woman slowly losing consciousness. Pleased with her act of defiance, Dina allowed herself to be tranquilized. Zeke powerlessly watched his mother fall into a slumber, knowing that his threats meant nothing. Without her confession, the case of Carla's death was going to remain open and the Tyburs were going to keep Zeke at that lowly team lead position. He had much bigger plans than being stuck on the phone all day pretending to give a rat's ass about healthcare. Dina was putting all of that on hold.

"Mr. Yeager, your hand is still bleeding. The medic is coming but should I call an ambulance as well?"

"Don't bother," Zeke snatched his hand away, immediately regretting doing so as the action increased the prickling pain radiating through him. He agreed to wait for the nearest help. There were other important matters he had to take care of today. His meeting with Senator Daswani was cutting too close.

Upon rushing over to Daswani's office in Mitras, Zeke was greeted by the Senator's secretary and told that Onyankopon would just be a minute. "Jesus, what happened to your hand?" The well-composed man appeared in a tuxedo and tie ready to give Zeke handshake.

"Just a little accident. Should heal up in no time."

"I hope so. By the way, Willy Tybur has already reached out to me. Several times." They took their seats and faced each other in a way that could have been read as standoffish. Zeke glanced around to note how empty the Senator's office was. A flag of Ghana above a U.S. one. Some newspaper clippings.

"Look, I really appreciate you taking the time to meet with me today, Senator. I know it seems rather forward to approach you like this."

"Mr. Yeager, I'm well aware of that EM wants to make me their new yes-man. Unlike Magath, however, I have my dignity. Not a bunch of dead hookers that you can hold against me. That contract in Ragako won't go anywhere and neither will Paradis in the healthcare system. If you want my advice, stick to private funding and stop going after taxpayer dollars."

"Senator, I'm appalled that you'd think I was here to convince you to be a 'yes-man.' EM certainly holds you in a much higher regard than Magath, I can assure you. Speaking of taxpayer money, aren't you running next term with a bill that will fight poverty?"

"I've considered going that route, yes. It may not be the main issue. I commend you for doing your homework on me but I know what you and the Tyburs are after. Support from a minority like me could make EM look good. Your journalist sister has painted an entirely different picture of EM in the media. Even if I help ease some of the tension between the higher and middle classes, I take it you'd stab my back rather than scratch it."

Zeke thought of saying something to combat those words, but he had been silenced. He brought a knife to a gun fight—Daswani was in the wise and on to him. For the second time that day, Zeke felt like he had been outdone. The beast did not like feeling this way at all.

"EM will be more than happy to fund your campaign, Senator. And you're right, it kills two birds with one stone, I won't deny that. Changing out image and distancing ourselves from Magath is the best option now. We want to show the country that Paradis is capable of doing many things for the people."

"So if we put a bunch of homeless people under your system, they'll remember what a warm meal and bed feels like? That'll solve all of our problems? Or better yet, have them go online and fuck each other senseless. They can stay hooked up to a VR game like junkies and we'll never have to worry about them again. Talk about some Brave New World-level thinking there."

"Please don't misconstrue my words. Paradis goes beyond what you're limiting it to."

"The only limit I'm setting is the one limit Paradis can't surpass: reality. In the real world, sex is something sacred and special, not a show to put on for washed-up psychologists who've run out of interesting behaviors to study. And the memory recovery aspect of it is just a way to get the population to forget the very much alive threat that is in the Mid-East."

There was no getting through to man, at least not yet. Right now the Senator's bark seemed to have some bite, but Zeke had a hunch that come election season Daswani would show up at their door. Was anyone going to support a politician proposing to strip more hard-earned cash from workers to fund an anti-poverty program? Zeke did not have high hopes but decided to feign defeat. He could stand to lose a few battles if it meant eventually winning the war.

The short meeting with Daswani ended unflatteringly, but Zeke remained above water. He saw the he had missed a call from Erwin Smith while he made his way back to his home in suburban Mitras. He played Smith's voicemail on speaker since everyone was out of the house. It revealed that Levi hadn't shown up for work and that he'd need Zeke to come in and wrap up training for the new hires. Zeke texted Erwin, _Just listened to your voicemail. On my way._

xxxXXXxxx

Moblit was kind enough to drive Hange to work again. He cautioned them against drinking so heavily in response to their study's lackluster publicity. More than anything the psychologist needed positivity right now. Too bad it was only at the bottom of a forty. Still, their assistant had taken up dealing with press conferences and getting grilled by reporters. It would only be a matter of time before Hange found themselves in an interview with Yelena Jones or on the news sticking their foot in their mouth.

"Titan X participation has been up since last night. Were you and Levi able to get in touch with any of them? I know you said you wanted to beat Dok to the punch."

Feeling a little excited at knowing not all hope was lost for the Virtual Community, Hange replied, "That's wonderful. And no, we tried reporting someone who hacked Levi's account but weren't so successful."

"You were trying to report someone to CPB? Drunk in downtown Trost?" He pulled into the parking garage and the morning rain decreased into a soft echo in the background. Hange released their seat buckle and tried to wrap their head around being able to function today. No word from Levi, who was also far from sober by the time they left the bar last night.

"Ok, not my proudest moment. Levi and I will be out in the field today recruiting and investigating so you can have fun watching avatars getting some. Don't forget to record brain activity during the money shot." They winked before leaving the vehicle and heading towards the Survey Corps side of campus, leaving Moblit to supervise their lab for the work day. Early enough for cubicles to be deserted, Hange got there expecting Levi to be at his desk. They saw his cell phone lying next to his computer monitor and realized he must have left it there last night.

"Dr. Zoë, how am I supposed to get my steps in when you're already on my side of the building?" Erwin smoothly walked up to them and smiled graciously. "Oh, Good morning, I was just looking for Levi." Hange greeted the director. "So are we." Nile Dok's worn expression appeared besides Erwin's calm but questioning one. "Well, his phone has been here all night, apparently. I'll try emailing him." the psychologist grew uneasy at seeing the CPB Commander and the director together. Them together didn't give off any auspicious vibes.

"We were looking for you as well, doctor." the director stood in their way. Space between the cubicles was so narrow it would have been impossible to sneak past Erwin and Dok anyways. Hange responded with some concern, "Is there anything that I can help you gentleman with?"

It was better to comply than try to make some excuse about needing to get back to the lab or something.

"Levi Ackerman was the only Titan X participant online moments after Magath's seizure. It was very difficult to trace his server but someone in our intelligence department was able to decipher it." Dok explained. Erwin, who most likely was already informed of the matter, was nodding his blonde mop like he was hearing this for the first time. "CPB does not suspect Levi in any way. We know he's been a crucial part of the Survey Corps for years now. This is why we'd need to get in touch with him to find out if he had been hacked."

Tongue-tied, Hange awkwardly toyed with their lab badge while trying to formulate a coherent sentence. Dok excused himself when his phone started ringing and went in the opposite direction. Once Erwin and Hange were alone together, the blonde tenderly started, "I know you care about Levi, Dr. Zoë. We all do. Even with the predictable behaviors he's shown the past five years, there's always a chance he could go off the rails. You being able to demonstrate that he's capable of attachment and emotion will make a huge impact on...people like him."

"Really, Erwin? 'People like him?' That's not why I recruited Levi. And it's not why you wanted him to work here."

The director sighed and glanced backwards to make sure Dok was still on his phone. "Hange, whoever attacked Magath that night went after Levi, the only EM employee online at the time. It's not a coincidence. If you know something, it would benefit everyone for you to say something. You can tell _me_ at least."

"It was Yeager."

Erwin was clearly thrown a curve-ball but he pushed on. "So Zeke's behind this?"

"No, Erwin. The _other_ one. He must be working with someone. Levi and I went after him last night but I… couldn't. I mean, he's Grisha's spitting image. I know this is gonna sound terrible but I don't blame him for wanting to do away with a system that created him."

Some other co-workers showed up, ready to begin the day. The new hires tried gathering near Levi's cubicle but noticed the tension between the two people already there. "Hi, Mr. Smith. Is Levi going to finish our training this morning?" the ditzy brunette girl, Sasha, asked. "He might not be in today, I'll call Zeke and ask him to come in and get you all started. Let's head to my office, Doctor." Erwin moved past the small crowd of trainees, tossing confused looks at Hange and Erwin.

Hange hated going into Erwin's office. The last time they were there, they had a discussion about Levi that did not end so well. Today was probably not going to be any different. "How long have they been together?" Erwin stared outside his window at the oncoming thunderstorm. "Not long. Just the night of the launch, as far as I know." Hange sat in the chair facing Erwin's desk.

"If Dok finds out about this, he'll start targeting all of them. This will become bigger than it already is."

"Don't tell him then." Erwin slowly turned around to hold Hange's gaze as soon as they said that. "It was just a coincidence. Levi's computer malfunctioned and he remotely accessed his own files. End of story."

"You want to lie to the CPB?"

"Oh, like they don't lie to us?"

Erwin returned to studying the rain drops outside. "This changes our plan drastically."

"Yes, it does. We can still help. Just be discreet about it." Hange watched Erwin's eyes darting back and forth between their reflection in the glass and the inclement weather. "And this is everything you know so far?"

Hange crossed their arms. "I think Levi might get involved with Rod's old way of dealing with Levi's kind."

"The Underground ring? Reiss can't still be running that cesspool."

"He's not. I have no clue who is over it now but they don't have any intentions of shutting it down."

Erwin frowned and asked, "Do you think that Historia is running it?"

"God, no. She doesn't want to be anything like her father. It's someone who is well aware of what Levi is capable of."

They stood by each other watching the campus courtyard flood. Their thought processes came to a halt at the same time. "Jesus, what if it's Kenny?" Hange blurted out. Dok picked the moment to knock of Erwin's office door. His phone call must have ended. The psychologist opened the door and politely exited. "Good luck with your investigation, Commander," they left Erwin to talk to the Dok and raced to their lab.

"Back already?" their assistant shut his recorder off and saved what he had drafted up so far on the computer.

"Levi hasn't shown up today. I haven't checked my email yet. He's probably fine." Hange muttered distantly. "Is everything alright?" Moblit walked through the field of floating titans to stand in front of Hange. "Moblit, what do you remember about the clones of soldiers who served during the Mid-East War?"

* * *

Hoping to have a better and longer chapter out next week! Thanks for reading.


	9. Chapter 9

_A/N: I do not own Attack on Titan_

Happy Sunday! Apologies for any misspellings or grammar mistakes.

M rating for smut, language, the usual.

By the way, it's officially Fall y'all! Well, it has been for about a week already but I'm still waiting for the leaves to turn.

To readers who are still tuning in to this story, thanks a ton and I hope you enjoy. Please leave a review so I can give you a shout out! It's so much fun responding to feedback :D

Without Consequence

* * *

From: Hange Zoe

Subject: Monday

 _You left your phone at work. Feeling ok?_

From: Levi Ackerman

Re: Monday

 _Been better. Think I'll stay in today. Emailing Erwin now._

Levi let Erwin know not to expect him a terse message. He decided to be done with technology for the day since he had had enough of it for the past few weeks. Back in his sleeping quarters he caught Eren stirring awake, tousled ponytail slipping out of its hairband. Recognition crossed the drowsy visitor's face before he sat up quickly.

"Relax, Eren, I'm not going to kick you out." Levi muttered. His headache forced him to reconsider turning on the ceiling light. In the little clarity that Monday's cloud-crowded sun shone through the window, Levi could see the outline of Eren's black t-shirt and Wranglers. Shoes were neatly placed next to Levi's dress ones at the foot of the bed. He wondered if Eren had taken them off along with his shirt. That's right, Levi had tried to get them in their birthday suits in his jeep last night.

As memories from mere hours ago hit hard, Levi supported his half-naked hung-over self against the door frame. Eren had already scooted to the edge of the bed and was threatening to stand up. "I should still go."

"Don't." The throbbing in Levi's temples sped up.

"I know that you're on to me." Ominous thunder roared in the distance a split second after Eren spoke. Levi pushed himself away from the open door to sit next to him, their shoulders brushing against each other as the bed dipped. "No shit, Brat." Levi exhaled with arms crossed over his bare chest.

"What are you waiting for? Do you want it in writing or something? Go ahead, report me."

"I already told you why I won't do that."

"Why?"

Oh, nice. Eren was really going to make him say it all over again. Levi had meant what he had said about not being able to hand Eren over to the CPB. About wanting a lay more than a promotion. Being with Eren rewired his brain to take risks—risks that meant throwing what little of a career he had down the drain. The more frightening part was discarding his loyalty to EM.

Maybe EM wasn't the place to let his passion for mental health advocacy grow. Hange would understand. Erwin wouldn't care. Zeke was after his job anyway. Levi felt his heart grow heavy when he thought about abandoning the Survey Corps. Oluo, Petra, and Gunther were a solid team under the filthy boot of higher-ups.

Eren's eyes were still questioning him. Nerves wrung Levi's throat dry but he trekked through. Why didn't he just turn Eren in? The only answer Levi could muster was in the form of him leaning over to kiss Eren. It was out of the blue but the gesture was not met with resistance.

A few heartbeats later their foreheads were lightly touching and their soft breaths were drowned out by morning rain. Relief or something of the sort danced in Eren's features. Dumbfounded, he whispered, "Oh." _Took you long enough_ seemed more like what he had wanted to say. Levi pulled himself away from their comforting contact so he could trudge to the bathroom.

"Should I go now?" Eren got up from the bed. Levi was already turning on the shower.

"No, I'm just making sure we do this properly." He shouted to Eren over the loud spray.

"Huh?"

"We reek." Levi glared. Mostly Levi, of last night's alcohol, but like hell he was going to admit that right now. Once they were in the shower, it became clear that Eren could have cared less how Levi smelled by the way he pulled the other into a powerful embrace and vigorously resumed the kiss from earlier. For once Levi had to fight back against recoiling. To be wanted despite feeling so unclean was unfamiliar. Getting passed up at the orphanage as a child by potential parents then years later as an adult at clubs or parties by potential partners made him think that he was never good enough. Now the shortest shower of his life was a shared baptism absolving him of all that shame.

In a blur Levi found himself dripping over the bed with Eren rolling on top of him. Normally he would have raised hell about getting anything on the comforter, but being submerged under Eren's blanket of a body was naturally a sensation he never knew he had been deprived of for so long.

"Are you sure?" In the hold Eren had them in, his breath tickled Levi's neck.

"I thought you said you could tell when someone wanted you." Levi lightly ridiculed, pressing against the back of Eren's head until he couldn't bring their flesh any closer together.

Cold air replaced Eren's touch as the long-haired man sat up, scouting the room. It hit Levi that he was probably wondering where the condoms were.

"Bedside. Top drawer."

"Weren't they in the dresser last time?"

"I can't reorganize my own damn space?"

Eren crawled near the pillows and leaned over to open Levi's end table. He grabbed a whole set of condoms while cackling, "Good idea getting angry. Sex'll be better that way." His laughter faded into small moans when Levi positioned himself behind Eren to start darting a tongue at the beads of water trickling down Eren's tanned backbone. Eren tasted even better without alcohol clouding Levi's judgment. In the back of his mind his paranoia pestered Levi to secure the barrier between his mouth and Eren's leaking cock but the desire to drink every drop of what Eren had to offer overpowered it. From the way Eren whimpered obscenities into the pillow it seemed like there were no objections.

That familiar milky white substance traveled beyond the tip of Levi's tongue then into his throat. He greedily swallowed, strengthening the way his lips wrapped around the rock hard source of the salty droplets. Eren was shuddering, trying to balance himself on his elbows while pushing back further. Panting like an animal in heat. Trying to get a view of Levi sucking him off.

"You...too…" Levi paused when Eren's muffled voice replaced the succession of "oh fuck" and "yes."

He watched Eren turn himself around. The pleasure-drunk man placed an eager hand at Levi's erection. "I said let me do it to you too."

Though he wasn't ready to let Eren have at it yet, Levi lied back for the other to gain clearance to his own need. Eren wasted no time in recreating their first night together when they were connected via Paradis. The same hopelessness took over Levi as Eren skillfully repeated his technique that Levi was fonder of than he had expected. Though hung-over, his energy was ever going. It was like Eren tried draining him of it with the way he hungrily took every inch of him in the moist confines of his mouth.

Then Eren's lips found his again, prompting them to share what was probably their longest kiss to date. Saliva and pre-cum was exchanged in a sexually charged battle of tongue and teeth. A commanding hand tugged at Eren's hair to deepen it. Levi felt the other's form comfortably settle on his; hotly joining their limbs so no visible area of skin could be left uncovered.

Pleasure rose in the pit of Levi's stomach then into his throat, vibrating from the way he moaned into their lip-locked position. He lashed out two silk white arms to wrap around Eren's broad shoulders. The fire in his loins forced him to shift their cum-smeared dicks together to increase friction. " _Please_ keep doing that," Eren pulled away to hiss. Levi had no intention of stopping. The sticky mess between them pooled and intermingled with the bathwater still dripping from their pores. It only made sliding together easier—Levi dug his fingernails into the sun-kissed flesh above him to keep a grasp on his stamina. The sound of condom wrappers getting torn open reminded Levi how there was no turning back at this point. Not that he wanted to in the first place.

Eren dexterously placed the latex that was lubricated with his own spit on Levi's hardness. He held onto the pale hip below for support while Levi barely had enough time to register what was going on before the head of his cock disappeared inside Eren. Nothing could compare to the feeling; a million sparks going off, fireworks bursting at two thousand degrees, an indescribable warmth enveloping his being. "Levi, look at me." Eren's sweet murmurs opened Levi's steel blue eyes, taking in the sight of Eren's bronze body gently rocking above his legs and pupils rolling into the back of his head as he clawed at Levi's chest.

"You enjoying yourself?" Levi goaded, running a digit along Eren's twitching cock, giving a drip of release to Levi. Eren licked his chapped lips before retorting, "Don't act like you're not." He discarded any restraint to engulf more of Levi's shaft. Levi grunted as he began thrusting into Eren with abandon. Each time Eren repeated the cycle of lifting and lowering his amazing ass unto Levi, a premature orgasm put all joy at risk. No doubt Eren was aware of how good of a job he was doing. To match the intensity of the younger man's ruthless bouncing, Levi began pumping him. There was no competition: both started to come apart by each other's touch, force, and drive.

For a split second Levi could not believe he had something so perfect within his grasp. He could not remember the last time someone fucked him like goddamn Armageddon had come to Earth and the end was imminent. And to look so gorgeous while doing it. Neighbors be damned, Levi lost all control and hollered Eren's name for the whole complex to hear. The hot torch that was Eren lit every dormant cell in his system. He couldn't keep it in any longer, all pent up aggression for getting hacked had divulged itself as a burning white substance that filled the condom Levi forgot Eren was thoughtful enough to slip on him.

The ticklish prickling of the afterglow followed but it was not any less incredible. Eren angled himself to be able to capture Levi's open mouth while running a calm hand through his damp, raven strands. Eren sucked hard at the bottom lip before softly biting down, gyrating those hips all the while as if begging for more than what Levi had just put on the table. "Fucking hot when you come like that." Levi heard Eren pant, teeth gritted. The distance between their stomachs made it difficult to continue stroking Eren to the same point, but Eren didn't seem interested in experiencing his end that way. He slowly removed Levi from his tightness and swiftly discarded the used condom. "I wonder if you'll make that face when I'm filling you."

Before Levi could get a word in, he was tasting Eren's breath and tongue again. In his woozy state of mind, he couldn't even push away the wet tan finger that found the opening right underneath his ball sac. Eren went past one ring of muscle after the other until his nail scraped against a nucleus of bliss lying at a spot that Levi hoped Eren would memorize. Eren took his sweet time adding another finger, making scissoring motions, and gauging Levi's reactions. He'd place bright red love marks along parts of Levi's neck, collarbone, and the curvature connecting his chin to his throat. It was so deliberate that Levi grew irritated.

"Aah— just put it in already!" He cried out, annoyed by how the prep work was reminiscent of the kind used for some virgin. Of course he only succeeded in boosting Eren's ego. Mischief shining in his emerald eyes. "I'm not gonna be gentle."

"Not asking you to be. Give it to me _hard_."

Another condom packet ripped open. Levi watched through half-opened lids as Eren put protection on in slow motion. It would be worth the wait, the torture. Air in the room was growing heavy with Eren's dominating aroma. The headache in Levi's head was overshadowed by the dull ache he felt as Eren's thick cock stretched his awaiting entrance. He fully seated himself, not bothering to draw out the first slide home. As foreign pain dissolved into fulfillment, Levi elevated his core to allow Eren to hit that part of him that would make him see every constellation in the cosmos.

Eren started _moving_ and it was like he had read Levi's mind, which turned to mush as he lost count of each jolting thrust after the first three or four. Levi got hard all over again, not caring if Eren could see how quickly he got excited. Eren drove into the intimate part of Levi as mercilessly as he had hoped. The guy had the audacity to take Levi in his hand and mimic his own ministrations from before. He was whispering something about Levi being perfect or sexy or something that made Levi want to cover his face with his arms. Too bad they were too busy grabbing Eren's behind to ensure the pressure of the pounding never slacked. In the mixture of their primal, loud cries for each other, Levi distinguished Eren's melodic moans from the stream of compliments. He was tempted to call him an idiot and tell him to shut up, but Eren was already losing the function of coherent speech as Levi tightened around him.

Eventually Levi could feel Eren catching his breath and easing them into a rhythm less rushed. Eren swept his damp locks across Levi's chest before finding a pert nipple to nurse on gently. The hand around his cock sprung back into action and resumed its assault, now making a total of three different ways Eren was forcing him towards another explosion of satisfaction. Levi edged closer until he could only communicate his helplessness by dragging nails down Eren's arched back. Message received, Eren stroked him faster while limiting his movement inside Levi to short, impactful strikes. Each smacking sound bounced off the walls and hit Levi's ears with even more motivation to meet Eren half way.

Maybe it was foolish to let his guard down so much around someone who had betrayed his trust. Levi considered how he could have just been getting played yet again but it had been so long since anyone made him feel so many things at once. Despite not being much of an optimist, Levi hoped this would not be the last time. He wanted to be able to have Eren when he wanted. He wanted to know for sure that Eren wasn't just going to ghost him after finally bedding him. Another mistake, another regret, another night alone…

Eren was warning him of his incoming climax. Levi did his best to not let thoughts about the near future get in the way of achieving what he desired since he had first laid eyes on the other. "I'm coming—" Levi abruptly shot off in Eren's grip, loosening as Eren began ejaculating. Power seeped through the slit; his cock pulsated violently and emptied itself into the condom. Eren never took his eyes off Levi nor did he weaken their embrace. Levi collapsed into the sullied bed sheets and Eren pulled out to fall by his lover's side. He lazily sucked at the Levi's seed that coated his hand.

"God you're such a freak." Levi chuckled when he caught Eren out the corner of his eye. "You love it." Eren poked playfully. There wasn't enough energy left in either one of them to banter any further. Near the window a bird was noisily chirping, most likely overjoyed that the downpour had stopped at last.

Levi couldn't remember how long he rested but when he awoke for the second time that day his hangover had not subsided. Eren was a few centimeters away quietly snoring with his mouth ajar. Assessing the damage to his covered mattress, Levi's cleaning habit returned with a vengeance. He forced an out-of-it Eren awake and together they destroyed the evidence of their lovemaking. A change of sheets and a shower later, Eren was suggesting they go to some Mexican restaurant up the block to try Menudo*. Levi acquiesced, looking forward to trying anything that could cure his aching skull. The sex temporary alleviated the symptoms—he wouldn't have been opposed to staying inside all day trying to fuck his hangover away. When they got back, the rest of the condoms that somehow fell behind the bed were put to use. Night crept up on them but Levi was not ready to be by himself again. So the long day of mind-blowing bumping and grinding turned into yet another sleepover.

The rest of the week was as exciting as watching paint dry. After Eren left the following morning, Levi returned to work obsessing over when he'd be able to see Eren next. They'd constantly text each other throughout the day like giddy schoolmates. Anyone in the office could have noticed the change in Levi's mood. Hange definitely did, but they were too busy studying the participation increase for the Virtual Community. Whatever hype surrounded Magath's situation definitely didn't have the same effect that it did last week.

Zeke had been a good sport about taking over newbie training that Monday. Although Levi phrased his thanks in the most diplomatic way that he could manage, he internally held back saying something along the lines of "Thanks for doing my job while your brother and I set a new record for most uninterrupted rounds of fucking within twenty four hours." It was actually pretty neat knowing something that that asshole didn't. Every night for the rest of the week he picked up Eren from his late shift at Wings of Freedom so he could drive them back to Levi's apartment where they'd drive each other to more frenzies.

Friday, however, Eren told Levi his sister was going to pick him up from work. They had plans to visit extended family over the weekend. She was also starting to wonder where the hell Eren was. Levi wondered why Zeke never mentioned having a sister. Going a few days without Eren felt like the end of a week-long honeymoon. He kept his cool and wished Eren a safe trip. It's not like he was being lied to. If Eren was true to his word about wanting Levi so much then he'd keep communication open. Friday in his cubicle still went by like molasses despite the trainees celebrating the end of their training.

Annie, the stoic, intimidating blonde with the bun, politely approached Levi's cubicle. Her slender brunette friend stood behind her.. "Hey, Levi, Bert and I just wanted to thank you for your patience with our training." the pair humbly began. "It's no problem. I'm glad everyone made it out in one piece. Healthcare can be a pain in the ass." the team lead muttered. Annie and Bert exchanged a nervous laugh, not sure how to take their manager's sense of humor. "If you're not doing anything this evening, we're going to log on to Paradis for some virtual bar hopping. Dr. Zoë told us you'd be willing to help since you've been their guinea pig in the past?"

Guinea pig was right. Perhaps he should have been paying more attention to his conversations with Hange because company-wide participation in Paradis's VR platform had not been an established fact for him. He'd even gotten emails about his server being under investigation by the CPB. Levi had placed all of that mess on the back-burner, focused on completing new hire training, and anticipated a new position to try with Eren once they were alone together again.

"You don't want a wet blanket at your party," he attempted to politely decline. Gunther's nosy ass stuck his head above the cubicle wall that he shared with Levi. "Party? You guys inviting Levi too? Word to the wise, this guy's a party _animal_." The Survey Corps member expertly dodged a roll of tape that Levi threw over his shoulder. "Thanks for the input but I'm not going."

Gunther snorted, "Dude, just put on the 3DMG with Paradis and transport yourself there. That's what I'm going to do. It's _way_ too rainy and unpredictable to physically go anywhere anyways."

Jesus, had Hange convinced _everybody_ to be a part of this study? It was for observing sexual behaviors for God's sake. Using VR for party going did not seem illogical now that Levi thought about it. Over the last month he felt that he had at least gained the respect of the trainees. Seeing them outside of the office didn't sound like that bad of an idea. Plus, he didn't really have any plans. He was starting to realize how he was the last one to get invited.

"Let me guess, you're all going to downtown Mitras?" Levi asked, wanting details of where this so called gathering was supposed to be happening. " _No_ , we're going to try out some places in Utopia." Annie didn't seem to keen on Mitras either. If other urban locations had been accurately simulated into the Virtual Community, then it would explain its increasing popularity with people who weren't rich snobs. Levi had never been to Utopia but he'd heard it was a hipster town tucked somewhere between Rose and Trost.

Levi caved in. "Alright, I'll log on and check it out." Annie and Bert explained that everyone would probably start off at a bar called Heaven. "Yay!" Gunther cheered from his desk. Levi rolled his eyes but a part of him was glad that he found something to do tonight.

xxxXXXxxx

"I know this sounds like a weird question but have you ever thought about kids?"

Mikasa stopped buttoning up her blouse to stare at the man casually lying undressed in the hotel bed. "As in having them?"

"Yeah." His gray eyes stared up at the ceiling. A couple of days ago he had introduced himself to Mikasa as Jean at the café where she happened to be going undercover. He was a new hire at EM who volunteered to be a part of the controversial behavioral sex study. Though Mikasa went into the Virtual Community sporting a look that didn't match her photos in the Hizuru Daily or the press, Jean had been able to pinpoint exactly who she was.

"Investigative journalism is a very admirable field. Your articles on Magath and Paradis were well-written." It had sounded like a pick up line coming from him. Mikasa was in no mood to feign ignorance and she admitted how she was only logged into the VR system for reporting her findings to the Daily. Unsurprisingly, Jean implied that not bedding someone meant no findings to report. Mikasa avoided him a long as she could—three days—before falling prey to the clean-shaven, bi-colored gentleman's advances.

Now here they were in some conveniently located love hotel in virtual Mitras. The encounter didn't involve her actual body but it all had felt real. She thought of Armin's enthusiasm for taking advantage of the platform and laughed at herself. "I'd have to find the right person first." Mikasa replied before continuing to redress.

"Are you going to look for someone better now?" Jean questioned. "It's ok if you are. We're not exclusive or anything. I don't even know if this would even be considered real sex. It's weird, right?"

Mikasa shook her head as she reached for her coat hanging on the back of the front door. "No, I was going to log off and try to write something for the editor to look at. And yes, it _is_ weird."

"C'mon, it's the weekend. I'm meeting up with some friends from work if you want to join me." he coyly tempted.

"Jean, I _can't_."

"No one will believe me if I tell them I was with a famous journalist from the Hizuru!"

"That's because you're _not_. This isn't even reality." Mikasa grew frustrated. Jean had gotten up from under the covers and stood before the girl who was way out of his league with a puppy dog face. "There won't be any suits there. Just others like me who work for EM for the paychecks not the politics."

"Ok, fine. But only for a few minutes. Then I'm logging off. Some of us still have work to do."

Jean smirked before returning to the bed to grab his own clothes. He fished around for his wrist watch but remembered that his virtual map would be more helpful. "Let me get dressed and we'll head over there now."

He entered the coordinates in and Mikasa stood by unamused as Mitras transformed into a part of town that she was not entirely familiar with. "Is this Rose?" she almost brought up her own map but Jean told her they were in Utopia. "They're gonna be at Heaven. This way," Jean led Mikasa to the modest building donning the aforementioned name. It was unforgivably packed but Mikasa hoped that no one would be able to recognize her anyway. Jean was tugging at one of Mikasa's hands to guide her where she believed his friends were.

"There's a huge wait for a booth. Maybe we could try another place?" Jean was greeted by a average-height woman whose blonde strands were neatly tucked behind her ears. Behind her stood a burly blonde man and a slender dark-haired gentleman timidly observing his surroundings. "Oh, you brought someone. I'm Annie, nice to meet you." she noticed Mikasa standing closer behind her friend and reached a hand out to shake.

"Likewise. I'm—" Her own name got caught up in her throat. Four more people had joined the group and she recognized one of them. He was shorter than all of them with a sunken, somber expression on his face. Annie noticed Mikasa's struggle but explained that more people from work were joining them for the night out. It wasn't the large size of the party that had Mikasa flabbergasted, however.

"Mikasa." Levi finally acknowledged her.

* * *

*Mexican soup with tripe (cow stomach) and chili pepper-seasoned broth. It's supposed to be good for hangovers according to my husband.

See you all next week! I can't believe it'll be October tomorrow. I have a crap ton of appointments in addition to my husband's birthday so next chapter will be out a little later than a week.


	10. Chapter 10

_A/N: I do not own Attack on Titan_

Happy Sunday! Thanks a ton to **Greenprozium** for the loyal reviews~ They make my day! Yep, I'm a huge House of Cards fan but kinda freaking out about this upcoming season. Will it be good with the Space man!? This Mikasa _is_ Zoe Barnes but only in the journalist aspect I hope? *Wink* We're getting some foliage here too but the temperature is all over the place!

We made it to ten chapters! It's been a lot of fun writing but I won't be able to focus on it as much as I'd like to in the next couple of weeks. Still going to see this through to the end so no worries, there will be a conclusion! Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy. Sorry for any grammar or spelling mistakes.

Without Consequence

"We're a lot of things. Soldiers. Murderers. But we're not... _parents_." Kenny ignored his younger sister's remarks and placed the infant in her arms. One look at the runt and she burst into tears, falling on the makeshift swaddling blanket that was Kenny's jacket. Now the hard part: convincing her to never let the kid go.

She pressed the tiny child to her chest in a way that made her look maternal. "There's got to be hundreds of these. The Reisses weren't joking when they called us expendable."

"There's no copy of your genome in their labs." Kenny tried reassuring but her blue eyes held doubt. He argued that no one would suspect a single mother raising a bastard child in the slums of the Underground. In her defense, she expressed concern that the Reisses would find her and try to take "this thing" away.

"I'm a fucking criminal. He's safer with you than with me, Kuchel."

Exasperated, she shook her head of long black hair. "What gives them the right to play God, to play house like this?"

Midnight's background noises of inconsiderate neighbors sounded outside the shack's thin walls. A flickering bulb in the ceiling of Kuchel's doorway bounced light back and forth between the two siblings. Kenny couldn't provide a response to the panicking woman's rhetorical question. He also could not give the small humanoid proper accommodation and desperately needed Kuchel to do so. Hearing her go on about how their government betrayed them was a bullet he was willing to bite. Former combatants made up a huge portion of the Underground's population. Many were not mentally sound nor sufficiently supported by the regime that had placed them on the battlefield in a foreign country.

Kenny stared at the bundle in Kuchel's arms for a long moment. "I overheard Reiss saying that this one's 'defective.' All these things are. If I leave it with Dr. Fritz, they'll do those experiments...I don't want that for it, human or not."

"So you just save one and consider yourself redeemed? Women out there are carrying copies of you and me—the whole infantry! Just so the whole war can keep going. I remember the faces of children whose lives we took. The screams of their mothers. Every night. I can't sleep. I can't eat."

"Kuchel, why won't you give Paradis a chance? It can help—"

"It's mind control!" She exclaimed. The bundle in her hold stirred. God, it even _sounded_ like a baby. They held their breaths in hopes that it would remain asleep. When stability returned to the atmosphere, Kuchel looked her brother in the eye. "I know mine is out there. If you find it—her—make sure the Fritzes, the Reisses stay away.."

He nodded halfheartedly. The matter of the child was still up for debate. Kuchel seemed instantly attached, but Kenny worried that she'd change her mind at the last minute. She finally gave in and agreed to take it in her care, however. To raise it. Not as a war machine but as a person. On the condition that Kenny return the favor if any doppelganger of Kuchel were to surface within the next few years.

It was something unprecedented—neither one of them knew how it would behave. If it could learn to love. Premature but healthy overall, the baby survived the first few months problem-free. Kuchel cherished it, comforted it when it cried. During one of his infrequent visits, Kenny saw how the little one came to recognize and favor Kuchel's face. Its small hand would reach out with a tight grip for her nose or cheek. She'd lightly chastise it.

"You give it a name yet?"

"Yes, I did name _him_. Kenny Ackerman 2.0 doesn't exactly roll off the tongue."

Kuchel never seemed capable of laughing or having a sense of humor after the war but perhaps motherhood changed that. Kenny chuckled and pressed, "So, what did you name _him_ then?"

xxxXXXxxx

"Levi." Thunderstruck, Mikasa failed to gather herself. "I didn't know you were…"

"It's for work," he muttered, thankful that Annie called them both over to sit at their table, fit for their large party. It was filled with all the EM newbies and Levi's Survey Corps team. Mikasa's presence being the only one that stood out. "Levi's a great trainer," Annie brought up during the conversation that was slow to start. "He also likes grabbing the first round of drinks for his trainees?" the blonde smiled as Petra and Gunther heartily agreed. "I'll come with you," Mikasa offered. When the journalist was out of the maze of people, she and Levi made their way to the bar.

"Hiding in plain sight." Levi turned to Mikasa. "You're always one step ahead of everyone. Tell me, does Jean know you're trying to put him out of a job?"

Mikasa moved up along the long line of thirsty patrons. "It's nice to see you too." She regarded. Levi studied her, thinking about how she had the gall to utilize Hange's brainchild after smearing it in the press. Without that short, edgy hair cut, she'd have the same face as the woman who raised Levi. It was an uncanny resemblance but Levi didn't want to dwell on his past tonight. The bartender finished up the order ahead of them before mechanically requesting theirs. Mikasa asked for a set of cocktails and then set her expressionless eyes back on Levi when the barkeep turned away.

"I'm not expecting Jean to be an inside whistleblower. You know that I don't even want him."

Levi stared back, perplexed, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Out of love and loyalty, the latter motivates me."

"Loyalty to whom?"

Their android bartender slid a tray of drinks towards them. "Here ya go. The charge will show up on your next Virtual Community membership statement."

Mikasa took the tray of drinks. They gingerly walked back towards the group together. His question left unanswered, Levi returned to his seat with some unease.

"Is it true CPB's after you, Levi?" Sasha piped up after a sip of her beverage. The others, especially Annie, looked like they wanted to keep that topic under wraps but didn't account for this girl's lack of a filter.

"Something about making sure my account wasn't hacked the night this all launched. No one's reached out to me as of yet." Levi provided truthfully, glancing at the drink that Mikasa placed before him. When she finished handing out the rest, Annie made everyone toast to "a new beginning." Levi drank from the glass and suddenly wished Eren was by his side again. Where was he now?

Gunther was snickering something along the lines of Levi not being capable of even participating in a sex study. Petra showed some friendly annoyance but it was clear that the trainees were curious as to what Levi had been up to a few weeks ago. He hated being put on the spot like this. "Lay off. I doubt you'll be getting any tonight." Petra snapped.

"I mean, the point of this is to whore out isn't it?" The bitterness in Oluo's voice didn't match the curiosity in his face. Indecision fell upon the party but the timid Bertholdt found the courage to talk over everyone. "Our plan was just to get plastered without the side effects. Wasn't sure if anyone was keen on going to the Underground." He said the last part lowly. It sure as hell pricked up Levi's ears.

The others looked excited. Mikasa frowned. "I thought they would have gotten rid of that simulation since that's where you-know-who had his seizure?"

 _Don't play dumb,_ Levi wanted to say but hoped the look he sent her way relayed that message. Of course a place like the Underground would become even more attractive to users. In a macabre yet romantic sort of way. Only God knew what people were getting off to nowadays. The hulkish blonde, Reiner, who used words sparingly laughed, "It's just something us new people wanted to see for ourselves. I'm fine with getting drunk and whoring out." Gunther reached over to clink their glasses and Levi caught Petra glaring daggers at the brunette.

"Fine by me." Sasha shrugged, already appearing tipsy. Probably a lightweight. She did down all the complimentary bar food like a champion though. The rest of the night was a cycle of finding hot spots then downing cold drinks. Mikasa wasn't grilled with questions like Levi had expected. She seemed to be having a nice time with Jean. Then Levi remembered what she said about not wanting him. And loyalty.

Their shit storm of a posse went unnoticed in the streets where similar mobs wandered possessing the same intention of intoxication and intercourse. Even though he had been in the spectator seat before, Levi noticed the increase in motley crews, diversity, different-ness. "I guess you're still too sober to spill your guts to me?" Mikasa had rushed to his side as the party split into a portion that wanted more alcohol and one that wanted to go visit a sex shop.

"What are you writing about now? Can't milk this Magath thing forever. There are some pretty hard-core war mongers out there that will gladly take his place if he can't continue his duties as a senator." Levi stuck with bar hopping while Gunther and the newbies pranced off to a store called "No Safe Word" with half-naked mannequins in the storefront spanking each other. Jesus Christ.

"That's right, focusing on Magath won't do anything for me. But I know that the Tyburs now want Onyankopon Daswani backing them. Zeke met with him the other day."

Now Levi was unnerved. Zeke taking initiative with political support for Paradis? Levi was gone _one day_ and Erwin just let Zeke do the one thing Levi could do in his sleep. But this was Zeke, he had been taking over Levi's fieldwork and PR duties for the past year. "How did you find that out?" He finally mustered.

"Zeke's my brother."

Which meant Eren was as well. "The Yeagers adopted you. I didn't know that."

"Did anyone ever get you out of that hellhole, Levi?" Mikasa asked, no malice in her question.

Petra came between the two and threw a friendly arm around Levi, who did not tense up at the touch but did not warm up to it either. "Hey, it's not the most spacious office in the world but hellhole is a little harsh, isn't it? As a writer you could come up a better, fancier word for it."

Mikasa was about to retaliate but Jean snuck behind her to grab a hold her waist. "It's literally midnight. Are you ever going to get started on that article?"

The quick undoing of her composure resembled Cinderella realizing her fancy carriage was about to revert to a dirty pumpkin. "I should log off."

"Nonsense, we should go to the Underground. Wouldn't that help your research?" Jean offered. Levi couldn't tell if this guy was teasing or being serious. He glanced up and saw that Oluo made his exit from one of the bars they had just left with some floozy tagging behind him. The others probably wouldn't be coming back from their little field trip. The EM party plus Mikasa had literally dwindled to a few. Now the Underground had become the center of discussion again.

Jean was drawing up his virtual location display. "C'mon, tell me the coordinates." he half slurred. Petra squeezed Levi's shoulder. "I'm gonna go find Gunther. If you go, Levi, promise me you'll be careful?"

"I'll be fine." He replied. To Mikasa's surprise, Levi told Jean what to enter into the virtual map. Petra's concerned face and the hipster paradise that was Utopia faded away. The three of their avatars loaded near an abandoned children's playground attached to a rundown daycare center.

"Not what I was expecting." Jean absentmindedly whispered to Mikasa, who shivered. "Why the orphanage, Levi?"

Jean loudly exclaimed. "Shit, this is that place you wrote about! God, it looks so damn depressing. Hard to believe you lived here for so long and came out sane."

"She didn't stay here long. I was here until college." Levi murmured.

"I didn't wanna assume anything but you two do have the same last name. Not that it matters, but it's great you both made something out of yourselves despite coming from here." the trainee began kicking at a rock, leading him towards the orphanage's boarded up entrance. Mikasa showed some relief at having Jean out of sight for a few moments. "He has such a huge ego." she snorted.

"Spare me the bedroom details." Levi mockingly rose his hand in disinterest. He stared at the part of the building that Jean had disappeared behind. Some kid bashed Levi's head against those bricks many years ago. Nose broken, Levi fought back. Broke the cunt's arm.

"But Jean's right." Mikasa briefly smiled, making Levi recall the one his mother would give him. "But the threat is much bigger this time," the journalist went on. "You and Eren have talked—"

The past week flashed in Levi's mind. Hours of lying in bed with Eren while listening to his heartbeat. Hoping the night would never end. They talked about a lot of things. Was Eren just reporting back to Mikasa every day? Was he even at work right now?

"So that's why he went after me. To recruit me for whatever plan you have to take EM down."

Mikasa stepped forward apologetically. "No, Levi, that's not the only reason. He obviously cares about you."

Angrily, Levi distanced himself. "Why do you say that like it fucking matters?"

"Because we're not supposed to be capable of that!" She cried out. Levi couldn't even process what she had just said. In the most surreal manner possible, Mikasa fell to the pavement shortly after she had gotten her words out. Then Levi understood what was going on. Tased. She was being tased. A thousand volts pounced on Levi as well. It hurt. Like hell.

He wondered where Jean was. Was he in danger too? Then Levi saw Jean standing above them with the weapon. He was the one who had brought him and Mikasa here after all. The bastard was even smiling.

"I switched your servers. CPB won't trace us." Jean informed them, that faked drunkenness in his tone complete gone. Levi guessed that Mikasa was probably unconscious by now. His own hold on his awareness started slipping fast. The sound of boots hitting the asphalt assaulted Levi's ears. A familiar, gruff voice struck the night air.

"Hey, you got both of them! Whoops, guess I kicked the shit out of that little Yeager kid for nothing." This man crouched near Levi as he spoke. Fear for Eren's safety grew but Levi couldn't remain awake any longer. A lightly bearded mug met his with a crooked smile.

"Welcome home, kiddos! Don't tell me you've all forgotten about your old Uncle Kenny?"


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: _I do not own Attack on Titan._

I meant to get this out sooner but a combination of exhaustion, writer's block, and binge-watching all of John Oliver's _Last Week Tonight_ threw me off track. Get out and vote y'all!

Biggest thanks to **Greenprozium** for always dropping a line. I sincerely appreciate it. I'm dedicating this chapter to you my loyal reviewer~ Mikasa and Levi do have a sad past. Hopefully the future will be better!

Sorry for any bad grammar or spelling!

Without Consequence

* * *

Levi awoke in a creaky wooden chair. He felt disoriented upon realizing that he was not in the safety of his apartment. Paradis and its 3DMG remained connected to his senses. Then Kenny's face flashed before his eyes. It was the last thing he saw before blacking out outside the orphanage.

Jean. Was he here? Where was Mikasa?

He jerked forward only to ring a pair of snug shackles around his ankles and wrists. The movement must have set off an alarm of some sort because a small device on a desk in front of him began beeping loudly. Fear of an explosion was quelled when the noisy machine began projecting moving pictures in holographic form. The sudden grainy appearance of recorded footage played.

"Camera's rolling, Dr. Fritz." Someone announced off-screen. A reel was rattling.

"Thank you, Hange." The snow white haired doctor had his back towards the screen. He ceremoniously cleared his throat, lifted his head, and regarded a Kenny that appeared literally twenty years younger. "Number eighty-seven. Kenneth Ackerman. Do you identify as heterosexual?"

Kenny was picking at the dirt under his nails. "What did Yeager put?"

"Mr. Ackerman, this study is confidential. I'm not at liberty to disclose the responses of other members in your infantry."

A wave of distortion made the next few seconds inaudible. It finally cut back in. "Let's move on, shall we? How frequent were the visits to brothels during your last tour, ?"

"Compared to here in the Mid-East? Anytime the sun went down. But the...women here are different. "

"How so?"

"Some know who we are and aren't too keen on our occupation here. It's a gamble. I'd rather be beating myself off than having some undercover extremist bitch trying to hack my dick into pieces."

"So the threat against your safety is the reason for the decreased frequency of sexual activity. Would you say your training serves as a sufficient outlet?"

Kenny snorted. "Can't fuck the barrel of a gun, doc."

"I see." Dr. Fritz nodded. He lifted a hand up and his assistant rushed over with what Levi immediately recognized as a Paradis prototype. It could fit perfectly over the human skull.

"Per the waiver on file, you acknowledged that participation in this study would mean revisiting some of your repressed memories. We've tested this device many times now. Ms. Zoë here can vouch for my work. It's harmless."

A much younger Hange tensed at being called "Ms. Zoë." Finally gathering composure, they weakly spoke in agreement before retreating to the back of the room. The footage began rolling and flickering again. Dr Fritz approached Kenny with Paradis in his hands. He was carefully bringing the metallic sides to his subject's head before the soldier stopped him. "What's the end goal, doc? I recall some terrible or fantastic experience I've had and then what?"

"The psyche of a soldier is quite a mystery, Mr. Ackerman. What motivates your dedication or what drives you to do what you do is a unique phenomenon. We hope to decrease the chances of your experiences impacting your ability to rehabilitate into society once we withdraw from the Mid-East theater. Furthermore, we hope to revolutionize how soldiers spend their... down time."

Paradis was now connected. Kenny interrupted the doctor again. "You mean change how we fuck whores and shoot shit up?"

"If you were able to do those things without putting your safety on the line, then it would lessen risks and increase concentration on more important matters such as your training or your performance on the battlefield."

"Are you trying to cut sex out of the picture then?"

"Dear God no," the doctor pressed something on the device. "I'm trying to figure out how to simulate it in the virtual world."

The film skipped to Hange coaxing a dark brown-haired woman into an MRI machine chamber. Dr. Fritz observations rang from what Levi assumed was an intercom system. "Karla, this is part of our SOP for surrogate mothers. Grisha and Dina are grateful for—"

Black screen.

Kenny waltzed in like a professor finishing up his latest lecture. Once his sinister eyes draped over Levi, the latter struggled against his restraints. The same machine that held in the video was now in Kenny's hands. He was twirling it, toying with it.

"I don't know where to begin, kiddo. Zeke's been trying to alter memories with this thing. Figured I take a stab at it while actually inside a virtual world. It may work better this way."

"How do you know about Yeager?"

"Oh I know _all_ about them. The one you're working for. The one you're sleeping with."

Levi stopped breathing.

"The Beast or whatever wanted to take over the director's job so Dr. Zoë would have to fork over the findings for this sex simulation mess. It's crucial to see if clones have the same reproductive behaviors as humans. If fucking fuels them." Kenny neared Levi, left rigid by shock.

"I'm no psychologist but if the point of making copies of soldiers is to mold them into battle-ready fighting machines then they need to fight. The orphanage didn't work out. Reiss let me keep running the fighting circle even after he went and started Eldia Inc."

"Where's Mika-"

Abruptly, Kenny let the ends of Paradis slide behind Levi's ears. It fit tightly around the crown of his head. "Don't worry about her," the older man condescendingly comforted. "She's meant for carrying, not killing."

Before Levi could ask what the hell that was suppose to mean, Paradis was switched on. He could feel the thread of his memories being torn apart then resewn with those of Kenny's. Their needles took him through the veteran's sordid life. Guns in the Mid-East. Women in brothels. Rod Reiss's plan to re-invade with an army of human drones. At last, the soul-crushing loneliness that stalked Kenny at the bottom of bottles all these years.

The scenes of Kenny's descent into despair did not play like a movie but it gushed into Levi's mind like water from a fire hydrant. His sense of self was bubbling away as he was being _replaced_. All judgmental sentiment towards Kenny's wrongdoings faded. The voices in his head told him it had all been for the greater good and Levi believed it. Turning in Kuchel to Reiss for genetic testing. Turning the orphanage into a fighting ring.

And now Levi was turning. The whole virtual world was spinning. Loud cheering replaced the serene office setting. He was standing on a platform above the heads of hundreds. Perhaps even thousands. Were they doing another circuit as a part of infantry training? No, that couldn't have been right. Other soldiers and their familiar faces surrounded them, however, and made Levi think maybe he really was back in the Mid-East.

xxxXXXxxx

Everything hurt. Eren stepped out from Wings of Freedom only to be ambushed by Kenny. Where was Levi. Levi. Levi. Asphalt and broken bones. Then the bitter man drove away after a phone call.

"Saved by the bell, Rogue." Kenny chuckled over Eren's beaten body. The phone in Eren's pocket had been crushed and the glass of the screen scratched at the threads of his server's uniform. Once he was left alone in agony, Eren hoped that Levi hadn't logged in to the virtual community. Kenny had plans to put him in the ring no doubt.

Armin arrived like a guardian angel in a jalopy. On the way to the hospital Armin explained how he figured something was up when Eren and Mikasa weren't at the duplex. Even from his hospital bed, Eren demanded Armin lend him his VR equipment. He'd track down the Ackermans himself. Once he was logged in, the aching of his bones faded and he was once again his indescribable avatar self.

Until he stood against a brainwashed Levi, who fought him viciously. Attacks so speedy that it left Eren little time to recuperate. All the while, the blood-thirsty spectators screamed for more violence. Of course Kenny just let Eren come in without any resistance. Levi's victory against him would be proof enough that the ex-soldier's plan had succeeded and no one could stop the moving train.

"Why don't you try to hit me, Grisha?" Eren was being stared down at by Levi, whose once loving eyes were now too far gone and like those of Kenny's. Yet Eren heard the question over the sound of strangers screaming for them to tear each other apart. When the steam from his wounds cleared, he was back on his feet.

Eren responded, "I know you're in there, Levi. Don't let this idiot undo everything you've worked for."

It only earned him a confused stare from Levi's steely grey eyes. Eren persisted.

"I'm on your side. So is Mikasa. Please remember that."

Levi raised his fist to strike again but the sound of the walls being torn through interrupted the assault. Armed officers stormed into the arena with the insignia of CPB on their backs. It stunned both Levi and his victim. They were incapacitating every member in the crowd and stirring utter chaos. Levi had discarded Eren to the hard ground like a rag doll and attempted escape but an officer seized him by an electric prod-looking weapon. Eren wanted to reciprocate that pain but found himself held back as well.

The lead officer removed their helmet. Had Levi been in the right mind he would have recognized him as that timid rookie from EM. Bertholdt Hoover. His expression was neutral yet firm. "Servers traced to the Underground. Other accomplices may be on the premises. Spread out." he ordered into a wire tucked into his breast. Then he grabbed hold of Levi while facing Eren.

"Levi Ackerman. You're facing indictment for the murder of Senator Theo Magath."


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: _I do not own Attack on Titan._

I know it's been a while. My baby boy was born a few months ago so motherhood has kept me incredibly busy. Being able to use both my hands to type is a luxury. Anyways, hope you all enjoy this new chapter.

Thanks to **Shiranai Atsune** for following and to **Greenprozium** for your review as always! Yes, House of Cards is definitely not the same! I was so bummed out after watching the last season. I know they had to come up with something but geez losing one of the co-stars doesn't mean losing one of your writers, right!? I dunno. It's been months and I still can't get over how bad it is LOL

Without Consequence

* * *

"Levi Ackerman. You're facing indictment for the murder of Senator Theo Magath."

Zeke sighed,"You've gotta sound way more convincing than that when you say it, Hoover."

He was meeting with Bertholdt and Reiner in the same room where the CEOs had done their spiel on Eldia-Marley's political standing. Where Tybur literally stabbed Zeke in the back by withholding his promotion. With the Beast planning to throw both Tybur and Reiss under the bus, everything was going to come full circle.

If Reiner, Bertholdt, and Annie could come through with the plan.

"We've been playing dumb under Ackerman for weeks now. Any further convincing is just unnecessary." Reiner's backtalk thundered across the conference room.

"Reiner has a point, Zeke. Plus, do you think Kenny is just gonna let us walk out of his underground ring with Levi?" Bertholdt nervously asked.

Zeke answered, "If anyone tries to stop you, make sure they end up like Magath."

"He's not really dead...is he?" Bertholdt sounded unsure, fearful.

"He's not _useful_ ," is all Zeke would supply as a response. "Daswani will support the Paradis Bill instead." On the contrary, Daswani was pretty clear about where Zeke could shove the Paradise Bill. They didn't need to know that. All that mattered was making sure loose ends were being taken care of.

"The sooner that bill passes the sooner we can be back in the Mid-East." Reiner rose from his seat and exited the room. Bertholdt gave Zeke a worried glance before following his colleague. Their "training review" meeting was officially over. As Zeke passed the cubicles where Bertholdt and Reiner had returned, he could hear Annie setting the fix in motion.

"Hey, Levi. Bert and I just wanted to thank you for your patience with our training..."

xxxXXXxxx

He woke up in his bedroom with the worst headache ever. Eren was asleep next to him. Careful not to wake the other up, Levi balanced his weight off the mattress and placed his feet on the carpet. Only what he pressed his hands against was not the soft, noiseless bed he was used to. His feet touched a tiled floor. Suddenly Levi no longer felt like the driving force of his body but a soul in the passenger's seat. At realizing that he was still drifting in and out of Kenny's memories, Levi grew frustrated. On autopilot, he felt himself walk outside of what could have been a dorm and approach a Mikasa look-alike dressed in light sweats and a camouflage tank. This must have been Kuchel.

"Sleeping in the same bed? Pretty sure the whole infantry knows all about you two by now, Kenny." Her tomboyish demeanor was an odd sight as Levi had only known her as a mother, not a soldier.

"Yeah well any day we could get our asses blown off so might as well live a little." Levi felt his mouth open and say. Kuchel just laughed and produced a gun from her holster. Target practice. She handed Levi one and together they shot at the painted wooden posts several yards away.

"Grisha's a married man. He's got a kid too."

"What are you implying?"

"I'm not implying anything. Once our tour is over you can't stay with him." She hit a bull's-eye while staring at him "Guess you better make the most of it."

Levi raised his own firearm and took a shot without looking. Effortless precision. He'd never pulled a trigger in his life. Yet in this body he felt that his muscles knew everything, sensed every outcome.

He left Kuchel to her training and came back to his room. So it was Grisha, not Eren, who, was waiting for him in that small bed. Levi slipped in and wrapped his arms around him. Why this moment? Was this what Kenny considered to be one of the best of his life? It was depressing. To hold someone and know that no matter what they couldn't be yours. Then return to being a loyal soldier, acting like nothing had ever happened. Levi felt his heart ache. Or was it Kenny's heart aching?

According to Kenny's thoughts, the tour came to a crashing halt only a few months later. After getting sent back to his home country, Kenny became a drunken mess. He tried tracking down his own surrogate from Dr. Fritz's experiment but ended up finding Grisha's. Levi was only able to see flashes of the woman. Carla, Eren's mother. She was willing to carry a clone to term for compensation, but Kenny knew that Grisha had come to like her. In fact, Grisha left his wife Dina for her.

More blurry parts of Kenny's past fizzed in Levi's mind until he came upon the trial of Dr. Fritz. The jury announced the verdict: innocent on all counts. Grisha didn't seem too pleased with the outcome. "Did you leave Fritz's daughter to avoid any association with him?" Levi, trapped in Kenny's conscious, asked Grisha as everyone left the courtroom in utter shock.

"That was part of it. I wanted to raise a child without being forced to shove Reiss's war rhetoric down his throat."

Kenny spoke with an internal scoff, "Grisha, it's a clone. Not a child."

"He's still my child. Reiss can't have him, Carla, or my loyalty. Don't be a slave to that man. If you let him get any more powerful than he is now then we'll be sending another generation to a war we can't finish." Grisha turned away from Kenny to join his wife and son. The little kid threw Kenny a strange look. The small boy grabbed Carla's hand and walked out of the courthouse with his parents.

Levi understood that Kenny and Grisha didn't talk again for a while after that. During that time, Carla mysteriously passed away. So did Kuchel. All of Kenny's anger and grief was palpable even in the blur of his memories. Kenny heard from Reiss that Grisha had walked into the Underground orphanage with Eren in tow and adopted Kuchel's clone, a girl named Mikasa. Levi wondered if Grisha passed up Kenny's clone on purpose.

"Dina enrolled their son Zeke in her father's project before her divorce." Reiss informed Kenny over a drink one night. They were in a rundown bar in the Underground and hours away from setting up the virtual underground ring's debut. Levi remembered the place instantly. It was where he had played pool with Ymir a few weeks ago. In Kenny's memories it looked slightly more presentable.

Kenny was thinking about how Zeke didn't need to be involved in Dr. Fritz's genetic experiment. "Dina wouldn't do something like that. Dr. Fritz signed Zeke up for that shit. How many of these genetically engineered war babies did Fritz create anyways?"

"Enough to not need the ones that we can't find." As Reiss admitted this, Levi could sense Kenny's relief. The orphanage or Grisha's home was a better fate than what Reiss had originally intended for the clones. Apparently Zeke was raising several clones under Reiss's supervision to send to the Mid-East at the right age. Distrust in Zeke came rushing back to Levi, absorbing all of Kenny's thoughts and knowledge of Zeke.

"Why isn't Dr. Fritz in prison? I thought the tribunal deemed his research extremely unethical."

"I exchanged his research for his immunity. Any further experimentation will have to be done under someone new. Hange Zoë volunteered to take over Fritz's work and disguise it with our technology once we release it to the public."

"Until then you want me to use this shit to bring all the discharged soldiers here?" Kenny referenced the 3DMG and Paradis model in front of him.

"Not physically. With Paradis and 3DMG they can be here fighting each other with no real damage." The CEO instructed Kenny on how to use the machine, which seemed amazing at the time as it was novel. To be able to hurt and heal in the same breath without any consequences. For a while it was something incredible. Kenny recruited as many veterans as he could, profited from their so called "psychotherapy."

It wasn't enough. Through the next decade of Kenny's experiences on display for Levi, he could feel his creator's greed for power surge. Zeke, Reiss, and Tybur were in his way. Each man wanted control of forces in the Mid-East but none of them had experienced war first hand like Kenny. His plan to expose the genome project and tear Reiss and Tybur down involved capturing the only clones known to have escaped Fritz's grasp. Unfortunately, Levi saw that Kenny didn't account for Zeke's stake in the game beginning at such an early age.

Having reached the end of the reel, Levi's mental screen went dark, then blank. Slowly he became himself again, awaking to the white walls of a small room. Zeke sat across from him in the same clothes Levi saw him in the office with. It was still Friday. Or midnight Saturday.

"It's a good thing we logged you off and found you in your apartment, Levi." There was no genuine concern in his voice. "And don't worry, Mikasa's here too. Funny how you two were living so close to each other." Zeke got up to tighten the straps around Levi's wrists. The latter didn't even realize that those were there. "I don't believe in coincidences though."

Levi looked around and recognized the format of the room. He was in the psych ward from one of Kenny's memories. Kenny had been sent here for PTSD treatment but it never worked, prompting him to go to Reiss and start the Underground ring as an alternative. "You brought Grisha here and tried to erase his memories. That failed and he ended up with Dementia. Now you're trying to do the same thing to your own mother. She's here isn't she? Dina Fritz."

The look that came across Zeke's face was one of dissatisfaction. "I would rather explain everything to you properly, Levi. Kenny's perception of me is rather distorted. I'm only trying to help her and make sure that she doesn't end up like my father."

"You let Reiss kill Kuchel. And Carla. All because they didn't want to raise their children to be your little war machines. The kids that I met that night at your house, they're just clones of you and your wife, Pieck."

Zeke did not respond to the accusation, prompting Levi to continue. "You've been lying to me since the day we met."

"Do you know what Kenny wants to do to you and Mikasa? Let the government take you for experimentation while he reaps the profit." Zeke tried to turn the conversation towards Kenny but Levi refused to go that route. "I have Kenny's memories. He knew that you wanted to do the same thing to us but you were struggling to find a way to implant memories into someone's mind. That's why you've kept Dina here. You're worse than Dr. Fritz. Experimenting on your own mother for Christ's sake."

Zeke sighed and changed topic. "Levi, turn Eren in. We'll only send him and Mikasa to the Mid-East. You can stay here and help Hange further their research."

"Fuck you, traitor." Levi venomously spat, feeling more like Kenny than himself. The punch that came to his face after his remark hurt like hell but it couldn't rein him in. Zeke would have struck him again had Bertholdt not strolled into the room. "The other Yeager's server has been located. Unity Hospital. Emergency Care." It was the same hospital Magath was at.

Eren was using Paradis from a hospital? The name Unity sounded familiar. It was the same hospital Magath was at. Then Levi racked his brains for the memory of Kenny beating Eren within an inch of his life mere hours earlier. He and Eren had been meeting at Eren's workplace for a while now, planning who to recruit next for the fighting ring. This time Kenny showed up looking for Levi and Eren wouldn't give him answers. Kenny couldn't deliver the finishing blow to his ex-lover's clone. So he left Eren in the parking lot of the restaurant to die. Was it revenge for Grisha rebuffing him?

"Armin Arlert is reportedly with him, Sir. Another conspirator with a hand in what happened to Magath." Bertholdt never made eye contact with Levi. Zeke watched the clock on the wall for a moment before giving out the next order, "Get rid of them both. I already have the Ackermans. I don't need Eren and I certainly don't need his friends meddling in anymore."

Bertholdt sped out of the room talking into his radio. Levi could hear his voice echoing down the hall. Glass shattering made him and Zeke jump. Zeke threw Levi a threatening glance before racing out of the room to see what had happened. Once he was out of the room, someone else came in rushing towards Levi. It took him a moment for him to recognize Jean.

"Wait, didn't Kenny hire you to take us to him?" Levi asked as Jean began untying him.

"Yeah, but I'm not taking either of you to that asshole. Or Zeke. Hurry up, we have to find Mikasa and get to Historia. Yeager won't be distracted for long."

Levi was cut free. He suspiciously eyed Jean before following him out of the room and into the smoke that was filling the building. Security was running all over the place. Zeke's angry voice could be heard. "Jean, you better start explaining what the fuck is going on here."

"She could fill you in better than I can," Jean led Levi to where Mikasa was being held. She struggled against her restraints as the door was being opened. When Levi stepped in, she calmed down. "Thank God you're alright, Levi."

"Jean said you can tell me what's going on. Speak now because we don't have much time until your psycho brother Zeke finds us."

Mikasa received an encouraging nod from Jean as he unleashed her binds. "Historia wanted to get all of Fritz's clones away from her father, the Tyburs, and Zeke. We had Jean working for both Eldia-Marley and Kenny to watch you."

"And Eren?" Levi's voice cracked.

Mikasa muttered, "He was tasked with exposing Kenny's fighting ring with Ymir and Connie. But I guess for obvious reasons he kept disobeying us and going after you."

There was not much time to soak in all the details as the opportunity to escape started to close. Levi followed Mikasa and Jean into one of the vents of the psych ward. They crawled on their knees to the kitchen area, completely deserted. Racing towards the back door, they were almost out until Levi remembered that Dina was still there.

"What about Dina? If we get her out of here, she can testify against Zeke."

Jean stopped himself from pushing open the exit. He looked to Mikasa as if to say that Levi was spot on. "We go back now and get caught, no one's gonna be taking Zeke down. We have to leave her for now." Mikasa made the executive decision and pushed past Jean to get outside. They quickly distanced themselves from the ward, covered in smoked and ringing loudly with alarms. Once they made it to a nearby forest clearing, Jean spoke into his collar, "We've got Levi."

Levi saw Connie come out from one of the trees. "Ymir's right behind me with the van. Any clue where Eren is?"

"Unity Hospital. He's with Armin." Levi excitedly recalled.

xxxXXXxxx

Armin got up for the fiftieth time to check and make sure none of the nurses were coming towards Eren's room. Eren sat on the bed with an IV hooked up to his arm and his body wrapped in bandages. The doctor said that the beating he took was pretty brutal and resting was imperative. Of course the very first thing Eren wanted to do once the doctor was out of the room was log into Paradis to track down Levi.

"Why did you log me out, Armin!?" Eren came to again and was frantically taking in his surroundings.

"Your titan was taking critical hits while you were in there, Eren. You were in there long enough to get my server detected by CPB no doubt."

"Please send me back, I have to find out where they took Levi-"

"Levi isn't your assignment, Eren! You've gotten into enough trouble as it is trying to follow his every move. You're supposed to be going after Kenny."

"And look where that got me!" Eren emphasized his current predicament by waving an arm across his hospital bed. Armin's rebuttal got cut short by his phone notifying him of a message. He took his phone out and read the message before saying, "Zeke knows where we are. We've got to get out of here." As he finished, a knock came to his door and one of nurses came in to ask if everything was alright.

"Yes, sorry, we're fine." Armin tried to hurry and dismiss her but the nurse stood there for an awkward moment scanning Eren's treatment plan that was written on the room's whiteboard. "It's almost time to take your pain medication." Armin noticed that the nurse wasn't even wearing a name tag or a badge.

Armin intervened, "Eren says the ibuprofen isn't really doing it for him...I'm sorry, what's your name again?"

"Annie. I'm one of the residents that got called in tonight. Forgot my badge." She ran a hand through her blonde hair and flashed them both a fake smile.

When Eren was able to see her at the proper angle his face went pale in horror. He recognized Annie from the raid of Kenny's ring in the Virtual Community. "Armin, CPB!" Eren's words died in his throat as Annie brought out a 9mm sporting a silencer at the end to aim at Armin.

"Targets located, they're in room three-zero-two." She lifted one of her shoulders and spoke into a radio.

To move caused Eren a lot of pain. At this rate even if he lounged at Annie she'd still be able to shoot Armin. Taking her down wasn't worth the risk.

"I don't understand why you're trying to protect these things," Annie titled her head towards Eren. "They're not human like you and me. A Senator is going to lose his life just because you tried to stop the natural course for Fritz's clones." She muttered, her aim never faltering.

"Magath's dead?" Eren piped up. Armin too had disbelief written across his face.

"He was when I came out of his room." She smirked. Eren swore under his breath.

Footsteps stormed their way up the stairs. Armin and Eren shared a helpless look of defeat as the boots neared the door. To their surprise, however, a crouched figure barged in with a swat shield. Annie shot but her fast bullet was deflected, ricocheting off the shield and going through the hospital room's window. The officer slid across the floor and knocked Annie down with their barricade. Out came Mikasa, victoriously staring down at a now unconscious Annie.

Jean came into the room next, followed by Levi, and then Connie. Despite the crowded room, Levi made his way towards Eren and deeply embraced him. Eren could feel his bones crying out in pain as Levi nearly crushed them but he returned the gesture with the same amount of urgency if not more.

"CPB reinforcements have been dispatched. Leonhart, please respond." A voice came through the static on Annie's radio. Mikasa bent over to pick up the device and hold the button that allowed the other line to hear her.

"You lose, Zeke." She succinctly reported before throwing the small radio to the ground and crushing it with her foot. She then signaled for everyone to move out before anymore officers showed up. After Levi removed Eren's IV, Jean and Connie each took one of Eren's arms and draped it over their shoulders to smoothly get him out of the bed. Eren could see the CPB officers that Mikasa managed to incapacitate and steal the shield from lying still in the hospital's halls.

They all loaded into the van and Ymir sped out of the emergency care center. Silence dominated the inside of the vehicle for the longest time. Levi looked behind him to see Eren sprawled out on a makeshift blanket. Their eyes met briefly but Mikasa interrupted their reunion. "You're heading to Historia's, right?" She was addressing Ymir. Connie sat shotgun.

"Yes. We should be there under an hour." Ymir estimated.

"Alright." Mikasa closed her eyes and rested her head against the back of the seat. Jean and Armin sat on either side. Levi unbuckled his seat belt and lied down next to Eren. As far as he knew there were no more secrets between them.

"I'm sorry, Levi." he heard Eren whisper. "I should have told you everything earlier. I didn't mean for you to find out this way."

"Get some rest, Eren." He replied. The rocking of the van along the road was soothing but it wasn't enough to calm Levi's nerves. Eren placed a bruised hand on Levi's thigh. Levi didn't try to swat it away. When bright lights flashed from behind them, he flinched. Ymir was nearly blinded.

They were being followed.

xxxXXXxxx

Hange sat in their study contemplating Levi's whereabouts. No form of communication was working and they considered calling the police. A knock at their door pried them from their desk. Moblit had gone out to grab them some coffee a few minutes ago. Hange didn't expect their assistant to be back so quickly. Still, they opened the front door. Only night could be seen beyond the porch.

"Moblit?" Hange stepped forward. They felt the cold barrel of a gun line up against their temple.

"Hi, doc. Can we talk for a minute?" Hange couldn't place the voice but it sounded more than familiar. They tried to get an identity by relying on their peripheral vision. "Who are you? What do you want?"

Kenny stepped into the moonlight. "The only leverage that I had against Reiss just slipped through my hands. You're gonna help me get those clones back."

* * *

Not sure how long it will be until I can update this fic again. Hopefully within the next week or so. Stay warm!


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: Excited for AOT Season 3 next month! Also looking forward to Spring! If it snows again in April, I'll lose it. Heads up for language and sexual content. Have a good weekend!

Thanks to **Greenprozium** for your review~ I love the idea of muscle memory influencing Eren's attraction to Levi. Had not considered it but definitely good insight!

* * *

Without Consequence

Historia's place was outside city limits. Ymir was confident that someone was following the van but the stalker's car seem to have faded out of view once they suffered through an unexpected amount of heavy traffic. Levi stayed in the back of the van with a sound asleep Eren resting on his thigh. The clock radio read one o'clock in the morning. It was Sunday. Levi briefly wondered if showing up on to work tomorrow would even matter. No doubt he was out of a job. Eldia-Marley wasn't going to come out of this scandal unscathed either.

"We'll stay here tonight but we gotta get the clones moving as soon as possible." Connie said as everyone exited the vehicle. Mikasa opened the trunk door and made brief eye contact with Levi. Jean appeared by her side offering to help carry Eren into Historia's home, its front door already open. In the doorway Historia gaped at her beaten up comrade. "Jesus, what happened? I thought all the fighting was _virtual_." She commented as Jean and Levi heaved Eren inside. Mikasa and Armin followed closely behind.

Levi felt as if he had walked into a castle. His entire apartment complex could fit in Historia's home. It was hard to imagine Mikasa and Eren plotting against Eldia-Marley here. Not that he understood their operation anyway.

"Armin, where's your laptop? Did you leave it at the hospital?" Ymir walked in last with Connie and Historia. Armin froze in his tracks. "I did. It's programmed so that only I can access the files but I'm worried Zeke might try to hack into it."

"We can disable it remotely." Mikasa chimed in. Historia gestured up the stairway. "Computer's up in the study. We can leave Eren in the guest room."

All but Jean, Levi, and an unconscious Eren headed to the second floor. Patiently Jean guided Levi to the spare bedroom. It was spacious. A mirror and armoire rested beside the curtains. Levi flipped the light switch and couldn't help but feel some jealousy when it turned out to be a dimmer. Eren was placed on the bed.

"Fucked up way to start my weekend," the team lead swore under his breath. He joined Jean at the edge of the bed. They sat listening to the busy footsteps above them along with Eren's steady breathing.

"I know that you did what you had to do to make Kenny think you were on his side. To make yourself not look suspicious," Levi crossed his arms. "But I still don't trust you."

"It's not your trust that I'm after. It's your safety. Kenny doesn't even consider clones human."

Levi didn't return any opinion on that matter. Honestly he was still reeling from being accused of murder. The only person he felt would hear him out was Hange. Remembering them made him worry. His phone was not on him. Zeke probably took it.

He wondered if he could call Hange and explain himself to them. Maybe it was too late. CPB was going to wrap up their investigation and put an APB out on him. It wouldn't do any good to put Hange in danger.

Jean got up. "l should go help upstairs,"

"How do you know if Mikasa really wants you?" Levi blurted. He awkwardly cleared his throat and added, "How do you know...if anything that clones can feel are their original thoughts, I should say."

"You may have been a copy of an individual but you're still your own person." Levi sat in thought as he watched Jean exit the room on those words. Maybe it was best he leave Eren to recuperate as well. Taking one last glance at the resting clone, Levi slid off the bed.

A tug at his shirt tail held him back. "Don't go."

Levi did a half turn to see Eren staring up at him drowsily.

"Were you listening?" Levi snatched his shirt back.

"No, but I heard what you said," Eren grinned despite his battered state. He winced as he brought himself up on his elbows.

Levi sat back down near his side. "Hey, take it easy—"

Eren's arm reached up so his hand could push against the back of Levi's neck. Their faces were brought together. Bearing in mind their current not-so-discreet location, Levi nearly rejected the sudden kiss. On second thought, however, he decided that he'd relish in the taste of Eren's mouth for a few seconds before pushing him off. It began light but escalated into a passionate lip-lock. A few seconds passed and there was no indication that Levi was ready to push away.

Something upstairs made the house's wooden floors creak—probably the legs of a chair. Still, it made Levi pull away from the embrace. Eren voiced his displeasure with a needy moan. He chose to focus on the underside of his lover's jaw instead. Eren's soft, wet lips pressing against Levi's throat made the dark-haired clone go limp. Logic triumphed over lust, however, and Levi delicately restrained the other. "Everyone is literally right above us. And aren't you hurt?"

"Please," Eren begged as he wrapped both his hands around one of Levi's arms. He held the limb against his ribs and applied pressure. Out of curiosity Levi watched Eren grit his teeth and toss his head back in pleasure. A familiar hardness strained inside the middle of his slacks, ripped and torn from the altercation with Kenny. Since Levi had his knee planted firmly between Eren's legs he couldn't pretend to not understand how riled up the other was getting from having his fractured bones irritated. "...you like this?"

Eren replied by nodding coyly. As if he needed to. The tell tale sign in his trousers was more than enough. The younger of the two struggled to bring his own shirt over his head. Levi peeled the hole-ridden fabric off for him. Immediately afterwards Levi was whisked into yet another kiss. As their tongues were sliding against each other Levi could feel them both getting excited. He thrusted himself forward to create encouraging friction between their hard-ons, frustratingly constricted by the barrier that was their clothes.

There were bruises scattered all across Eren's torso like paint splattered on a canvas. Levi put his mouth on any imperfection that he could access and sucked hungrily. Bright red hickies blossomed on Eren's skin. Levi then dragged his nails across the scarred surface, butterflies filling his stomach when he saw how the torture sent Eren into a fit of shameless pleas for more.

Levi started unfastening his own pants. He then planned to tug on his briefs but Eren was faster, shoving a hand into void to find and pump Levi's already solid cock. It was leaking enough pre-cum to make Eren's strokes effortless. Not shoving the damn tease into the mattress and fucking him sideways right then and there took all of Levi's willpower. He hated how we was being reduced to a whimpering mess. They'd gone much further but this time the danger of being caught made foreplay more enticing.

Eren ceased stroking to unfasten his own pants. The look in his eyes showed how he was also wanting release but not sure if it was worth the risk. Levi figured they were going to hell anyway so why not make the most of it. He brought their erections together and laid his arms on Eren's shoulders for better grinding access.

"Don't stop," Eren breathed, head tilted up in an invitation for Levi's mouth. Levi was more than happy to resume their kissing. Eren's moans were getting louder, more drawn out. Could anyone hear them? Levi was not sure but the uncertainty fueled his arousal. He wished that it was just the two of them alone in his apartment trying to break Levi's bed frame. Here he couldn't take a chance on being caught drilling into Eren like some sex fiend. It was getting harder to resist with the way Eren had his hot wet mouth in an O-shape that Levi knew his dick would fit inside of perfectly. Fuck, life just wasn't fair sometimes.

Throwing caution aside, Levi gripped both of them in his palm and furiously masturbated their knobs together. He put his lips back on Eren's to keep their lustful sighs at a reasonable volume. Whenever they parted for air, Eren tried to say something. He was panting Levi's name over and over as they continued rubbing against each other but he resisted any further deterrence. With a weak gasp Eren held Levi's gaze. "I lo—"

"Fuck!" Levi grit his teeth and grunted when the first spurt of cum landed near Eren's navel. He almost died of embarrassment from coming so quickly but Eren took what he could into his hands and lapped at the white stickiness. Soon after his own orgasm ripped through him. Thankfully he kept his cum-soaked fingers shoved to the back of his throat to ensure his noisy reaction to his own orgasm wouldn't give them away. Back down from their painfully short highs, they sat holding each other and catching their breaths.

"What happens now?" Levi drew circles on Eren's exposed back. He pulled away but went with leaning forward so their noses could lightly touch.

"You can use my shirt to wipe us off," Eren breathed a small laugh.

"Ha ha. Smart ass."

Levi did make use of that discarded top to make them both presentable. Levi zipped both of their pants back up. There were dried stains but one would have to squint to see them. He stood, almost losing his balance.

"Now we make sure Zeke doesn't find us." Eren finally answered. "Those kids you met that night at his house. They're clones too. One of them is already in the Mid-East."

"We abandoned occupation there. At least I thought we did."

"You _thought_ what Eldia-Marley wanted you to. They're orchestrating something terrible to put this country on a warpath. And that social experiment is a big part of it."

Levi furrowed his brow. "Hange's sex study?"

"It's more than that. If it wasn't, you wouldn't need CPB."

"You're saying I can't trust Hange."

"I'm saying that Hange is hiding something from you."

Before Levi could rebuttal, Mikasa came downstairs and opened the door to the room. "Eren, you're awake!"

"What's wrong?" Eren's hands fumbled before he remembered that there was nothing to hide anymore.

"It's the nursing home. They called and told me that Dad's missing."

xxxXXXxxx

Hange tried to wrap their head around Kenny's motives. "What do I have to do with you losing Levi and Mikasa? They were never yours to begin with. Their Reiss's."

Kenny had the both of them sitting in the psychologist's living room across from each other. The ex-soldier's gun was pointed at Hange's chest. "I'm taking them for myself and going back to the Mid-East." He answered, scratching at the black stubble on his chin.

"You want to be a terrorist? Because that's where you're headed." Hange cringed as Kenny laughed at their criticism. Why did they even try to get through to a madman like him?

"Funny how you manage to sound like a condescending bitch even at gunpoint. Just like Fritz."

That made Hange a little fearful. "Did you kill him?"

Kenny clicked his tongue, "Right after he stepped down and Reiss forced you to continue the clone project."

They adjusted their glasses and sighed. Kenny pressed further, "Reiss should have let you get convicted and rot in prison. But you got immunity for forking over your research to the feds."

"Is that what Reiss told you?" Hange asked in disbelief.

Kenny's blue eyes narrowed. "You know something I don't?"

"Surrogates weren't put on trial. We didn't get any immunity either."

Now Kenny made the sour face. "What do you mean _we_? Reiss never said that you were one of the surrogates."

Hange leaned forward on the couch and rested their head in their hands. They softly whispered, "Kenny, Reiss didn't give me a choice."

He tried to unhear them. Would have given anything for time to reverse so he could put a bullet in Zoë's head and stop this conversation from ever happening. Reiss had kept everything from him. The ring was in shambles thanks to Zeke's invasion. Tomorrow was going to be the dawn of a completely different life for Kenny. One where he'd be on the run. He needed leverage. Levi crossed his mind.

"So whose clone did you carry?" Kenny felt the whole room turning. He was losing it. Hange wasn't responding fast enough. They were fiddling with their spectacles. Agitated, Kenny raised his voice. "Whose clone!?"

"Yours! I carried Levi!"

Kenny flew up from the sofa to pace around. Once he regained calm, he got a good aim at Hange.

"Makes no fucking sense. You're _lying_."

Hange's eyes moved back and forth from Kenny's face to the barrel of the firearm. "I'm not! I just wanted to do my research but I became a pawn in someone else's game."

"You could have at least raised him. Given him a proper childhood."

"Oh and _you_ did? The little time you spent with him you made him _fight_."

Kenny kicked over an end table. The lamp on top of it crashed, robbing them both of enough light to see much of anything. In the shadows he could see Hange's chest moving up and down quicker than usual. They were breathing faster. Holding back tears.

The gun in his arm suddenly grew too heavy to keep aiming. Kenny lowered it and muttered, "I'm not taking pity on you."

"I'm not asking for it," Hange glared at him. "Reiss is a horrible man. You should be going after him, not me."

"CPB's taken down our underground ring. Reiss will get indicted soon. It's that fucking piece of shit Zeke that you should be worried about. If I'm a terrorist then he's a goddamn sociopath."

Hange contemplated Kenny's accusation. Zeke and CPB never drew any correlation for the psychologist. "Zeke is a patient advocate. He's got no relation to CPB."

"Sent them after Levi for Magath's death." Kenny's thumb swiped at the skin of his nose.

"Magath is dead?" That was news to Hange. "Levi didn't do it. It was that Resistance group that was trying to bring your ring down. Grisha and Kuchel's clones were a part of it. Reiss's daughter leads it."

Anger fueled Kenny's speaking once more, "No, it was Zeke. He's going to install some new congressional power so this country starts yet another war with the Mid-East."

"How is that any different from what you want?"

Kenny sighed, "It isn't, ok? I don't like some little shit beating me at my own game. You want more guinea pigs for your little experiments? I'll let you can run as many fucked up experiments as you want in the Mid-East once I install a regime there."

"That sounds tempting but you can't have Levi. And I don't support turning people into drones for war anymore. Fritz wanted completely brainwashed soldiers. That's why he wanted to create virtual outlets for their sexual desires so they could only focus on killing people. If you take out the war, all that's left are sexually frustrated victims of a society that doesn't care if they live or die."

"Zeke still can't alter memories like I can. That's the only reason why he's kept me alive. Unfortunately I can't make any alterations stick. Levi went back to normal pretty quickly. And I wasn't able to get to Mikasa…" Even in the darkness Hange could feel Kenny's haunting eyes burn into them. They understood what he was really after. Guinea pigs. Anger flowed through them once they realized that Kenny had actually used Levi for something so experimental.

"I know what you're thinking, but you're not on any pedestal. But you used him too, doc."

The spilled contents from the end table included a letter opener. Without any light giving away Hange's shadow, they felt that they could reach for it and try to fend off Kenny. Desperately they jumped off the cushions to obtain the sharp object. Kenny could not even register what was happening despite his quick reflexes. Hange pounced up, blade in hand, slashing at air until they felt the knife cutting through flesh. Kenny and his handgun fell to the floor. "Do _not_ equate my morals with yours!" They shouted as the ex-soldier wailed helplessly, hands clinging to the top half of his face.

Hange scrambled for his gun. It was either kill or be killed. Determined, the psychologist did not hesitate to pull the trigger. They wanted to empty the entire clip into Kenny's body.

It wasn't loaded.

Kenny had dissolved into laughter. "You crazy bitch," When he got back on his feet, Hange tried to turn and run out the front door but Kenny grabbed their ponytail and yanked forcefully.

"At least I know you're willing to be a little ruthless." He dragged the to the nearest room and released them. "Take me to the clones. Oh, and please don't try to be a hero again. I can show you pain worse than a bullet."

Hange massaged their scalp to ease the soreness. They hopelessly agreed to take Kenny to Levi's apartment in Rose.

xxxXXXxxx

Things weren't going according to plan. Zeke didn't like it when that happened. First Levi got out and now Mikasa was gone too. Reiner was sent to the hospital that Eren was supposedly at.

"Sir, can we help you?" Reception tried to stop Reiner from storming through the doors restricted to patients and medical staff. He ignored them while sprinting to the room Annie had reported Eren to have been in. There was only Annie unconscious on the hospital floor.

Reiner quickly buzzed Zeke. "Annie's been knocked out. The fucking room is empty."

Today just wasn't a good day. Zeke was pensive as he contemplated how to handle the letdown. Bertholdt stood beside him. "We'll need to reconvene. Get her out of there or Magath's death will look suspicious."

"Understood," Reiner replied before helping Annie up. She wasn't responding to his wake up calls. A security guard had approached the door.

"What happened?" They interrogated Reiner, who was annoyed at his current predicament.

"The patient that was here attacked the nurse then I saw him go to Senator Magath's room."

"How did you know about the Senator being here?"

Reiner did not say anything, just pushed past the officer into the hallway. "Sir, where are you going?" But the officer's radio announcing Magath's flat lining forced him to switch gears. Reiner continued to make his way to the exit. No one paid attention to him leaving as the whole staff on call was rushing to Magath's aid.

Serendipity had Reiner see a van racing out of the parking lot. Though the glass was tinted, he could identify the driver. One of the fighters he had spotted in the Underground ring. A brunette female. She logged out before CPB could get a hold of her.

Annie in his arms, Reiner ran to his car and laid his colleague down in the backseat. He then jumped into the driver's side and took off after his target. "Spotted van possibly carrying the clones." He spoke into the radio tucked inside his uniform.

"Run it off the goddamned road if you have to." came Zeke's command.

Reiner stayed behind the van. Even flashed his lights to try and see inside. No luck. As both vehicles came upon the highway, it was tricky to remain in a safe distance without looking suspicious. He informed Zeke of his plan to law low until he could get a good idea of what he was up against. After what felt like hours of driving, Reiner kept his stealth effective by lagging behind far enough to make it look like he had let his target go.

He put his car in parking a few streets down from where the van had stopped. The clones and their friends poured out the van. Reiner knew it was best to wait for the perfect to make a move. "They're with the Reiss girl. This is probably one of their hideouts. There's gotta be at least seven of them."

"I've got your location. Hang tight, CPB should be showing up in about an hour."

Reiner almost chastised Zeke for such a ridiculous wait time. He held his tongue and looked back to check on Annie, still unconscious. This charade with the clones had gone on long enough. He'd take action by himself. Reaching for the glock in his glove compartment, he sat for an extra half hour before exiting the car and creeping up to the property.

At the nearest window he lightly pressed his ear to the glass. The light shining beyond the curtain was low but there were silhouettes. The voices were muffled but audible.

"It's not your trust that I'm after…"

"...clones can feel...original thoughts, I should say."

Then Reiner heard footsteps. All the talking had stopped. He wondered if the occupants had left the room. Glancing upwards, he noticed there were people upstairs. There was no way he could get into the house without getting spotted. Reiner nearly retreated to his car to wait for backup until incessant sobbing coming from the window. Listening closely, he realized it wasn't someone crying but moaning. Heavy breathing, ruffling of clothes and sheets. Reiner backed away in repulsion. Then he heard Levi's name being called.

He was in there. The other clones probably were too. Reiner prepared to barge break the window. A countdown from ten started in his mind.

"Dad's missing from the nursing 're not sure if he left alone or with someone. I'm afraid to file a missing person's report since CPB is after us. Do you think Zeke was behind this?" Reiner heard a woman's voice say. Must have been Mikasa. It would be too much of a good thing if all three were behind the glass. Reiner pulled out his gun as he got down to the last five counts.

From inside, Levi's intuition was telling him to look at the curtains. Was there someone out there? He couldn't hear his thoughts over Mikasa and Eren arguing what to do about their father's disappearance. They were talking about Grisha. Kenny used to want to shoot himself at the thought of that name. Levi relived all the memories of Kenny cocking a gun and placing it at his own temple. The sound rang in his ears. But it was much closer. More real.

Levi realized he heard the actual sound of a gun loading right outside the window. He was quick to grab Eren and pull him under the bed. "Mikasa, get down!" He held Eren to his chest and shouted before glass shattered into the room.


	14. Chapter 14

A/N: Happy Tuesday!

I was about to ugly cry watching the last episode of AOT until my husband said, "Wait, Armin's not a woman!?" SMH man, SMH.

Anyways, hoping to wrap this fic up soon cuz yeah I hate to leave my very first fic incomplete. It took a direction I wasn't expecting but hey so does life. The next few chapters will be short but the last one will be longer. Maybe. No promises.

Thanks to **Greenprozium** for your loyal review!

Without Consequence

* * *

"Did you hear that? Gunfire from downstairs…" Armin saw Ymir reach for Historia. Connie couldn't stop Jean from bolting out the room to go and see what had happened.

Jean was halfway down the stairway when he caught Mikasa lying facedown on the floor to the guest room, full of bullets and glass shards from its now partly destroyed state. He was beyond relieved when she slowly lifted her head to check for any imminent danger. A gun-wielding blonde jumped into the room cautiously stepping over the broken glass.

Underneath the guest bed Levi shielded Eren. A forceful jump to the floor couldn't have been good for his already broken bones. When Levi turned to make sure Mikasa was alright, Reiner started shouting, "Don't you fucking move!"

"Reiner, I'm not moving ok? Just tell me what you want us to do." Levi calmly initiated negotiations. Reiner didn't see Jean charging at him from the doorway. The gun in his hand went off and Levi instinctively clutched at Eren.

Mikasa finally jumped to her feet and helped Jean restrain Reiner. "Shit, how did Zeke know our location?"

"Zeke doesn't know. Reiner followed us." Levi stood up and pointed at the car outside the broken window. "And he's not alone." There was clearly someone lying unconscious in the passenger's seat. Once Levi squinted enough he recognized Annie. Did that mean Bertholdt was hiding around somewhere?

"Pretty sure someone's gonna call the cops. We have to get out of here." Eren struggled to get to his feet. He was right. Mikasa looked to Jean. They had just found a safe haven and now they were forced to be on the move again. Reiner went off about getting rid of all the clones and abominations Dr. Fritz put no earth. Mikasa hit him with a punch no one saw coming. It did its job: Reiner was out cold.

"Why the hell did you do that? He could have told us where Zeke is." Jean half-chastised. Everyone was grateful for her shutting him up.

"Jean, we can't stay here. Both Zeke and Kenny are after us. Putting everyone else in danger isn't going to accomplish anything." Mikasa turned to Levi. "We have to keep going."

Eren sighed. "Where are we supposed to go? Levi's wanted and anyone could know who you are."

They all looked up when the others stepped into the room. Even though everyone was together, they felt cornered and helpless. There really was nowhere else to go.

"Let's not run anymore." Eren suggested.

Mikasa frowned. "Eren…"

"We could get him to confess to making Dad brain-dread. Expose what he's been doing all these years. _Something_. I for one am tired of playing spy here."

"Wouldn't Eldia-Marley be the best place to start? I have clearance." Levi offered. A chorus of unsure faces formed in response to the plan. If no one was onboard, it would be scrapped. They looked to Armin for the final thought on the matter.

"Eren's right," the blonde admitted. "If we keep running Zeke or Kenny or someone working for one of them is bound to find us." The siren of a cop car a few blocks away put everyone back on their toes.

Levi asked Ymir for the keys to the her van. She handed them over much to Mikasa's annoyance. "You're really going to go through with this?"

"Considering how I'll be out of a job either way I don't see what my other options are."

On those words Levi placed Eren's arm around his shoulder and shuffled out the house towards Historia's driveway. Armin begged Mikasa to follow. She looked at Jean as if asking for his approval. He told her to go and find a story the world needed to hear.

"So what could possibly be in Zeke's office?" Mikasa questioned as she climbed into the backseat with Armin. Levi shrugged. "That's what we're going to find out." As the vehicle sped off they narrowly missed the arrival of policemen responding to a call about gunshots in the area.

xxxXXXxxx

Hange convinced Kenny to let them take a detour to the office. When he asked why the hell Levi would even be there, they explained that Levi would most likely be looking for the psychologist there. Kenny accepted Hange's line of thinking and sat shotgun to them gun aimed at their torso.

"You don't have to keep that thing aimed at me. I learned the first time not to cause any trouble," they shuddered.

"Yeah but I don't trust you."

They did not say another word until Eldia-Marley came into view. Hange wondered if their presence would trigger Moblit's suspicions. There was not way they could call their assistant without Kenny catching on to them. C'mon, I have to think of something, they grew frustrated as the barrel brushed against their temple. "Alright, we're in. Take me to him."

"Yes, let's go to the labs. That's why Levi always finds me." Hange walked up the steps to their part of the campus slowly.

"How long did it take you to recover after childbirth?"

"What?"

"After Levi was born. Reiss never told me about you doing that."

"Reiss keeps secrets from his own daughter. What makes you think he would not keep any from you?" Hange snapped. Only a few steps further until the lab. Perhaps Moblit was staying late transcribing Paradis encounters? It was definitely a possibility.

Department of Behavioral Psychology

Kenny barged through the door dragging Hange by the hand. He shoved them forward and called out for Levi. The office was still and quiet. "He's not here," he almost growled but Hange swung around and hit him with something blunt. As Kenny fell to the tiled floor his firearm slid under a lab table several feet away. The room started spinning. He rolled onto his back and saw Hange holding a blood-stained Paradis prototype. A heavy one that they happened to leave by the exit on their way home last night.

"You've gotta be fucking shitting me," Kenny started laughing. "Bested by a damn _woman_."

"I'm _not_ a woman. And I didn't give birth to Levi. You were stupid for believing me." Hange went to go pick up Kenny's gun. They returned aiming at Kenny, slowly fading from consciousness. "I was given immunity for giving up the research done on you and your teammates that allowed those clones to exist. Dr. Fritz was going to send them straight back into the battlefield. I wanted to let them live normal lives."

They almost pulled the trigger until they could have sworn they heard Levi's voice.


	15. Chapter 15

A/N: I'm super happy to FINALLY post the FINAL chapter! Had to refresh myself on the plot so sorry for any glaring plot holes and grammatical errors. I'm a one woman show. Thank you to **abbydobbie** and **bmark2182000** for favoriting my work. And a big thanks to **greenprozium** for being my loyal reviewer! You have a special place in my fangirl heart~

Just an update, I left my job. I hated it, that wasn't news to me, but I didn't know I could walk away from it and be OK.

I thought all my family and friends would judge me for making such a choice but they've been really supportive. Well, most of them. My mom still thinks I should get another job but I want to take time out to find out what I really want to do! I know that saying "don't worry about money" is super cheesy but it's so true! If you're only working for a paycheck then your heart isn't in your work.

Alright, I'll stop rambling about my personal life! I just wanted to say that **if you're not being treated properly, walk away! The only person stopping you is** _ **you**_ **!**

* * *

15

As an excellent marksman, Kenny knew how to avoid getting shot. Long-distance shooting was one of his specialties. Point-blank, however, called upon skills that Kenny lacked. Afterall, he taught himself to never prepare for death. To always be on the other end of the barrel. He heard the bang, he felt the pressure, but he knew that he was still alive.

In darkness he awoke, jumped to his feet. Beneath his feet lied the hard surface of wooden floors. He brought his hand to his mouth to bite down on.

"Don't bother. Hange hooked you up to Paradis." He recognized Grisha's face. No, it was his clone, Eren. Before Kenny could take another breath, the clone's fist connected with his jaw. Kenny tumbled backwards. Walls around him began spinning. Eren's voice punctured through his dizziness.

"You had the prototype on when we barged in. I would have let Hange shoot you in your goddamn head but Levi asked that you be put in here so we could interrogate you."

They were in the bunker, Kenny realized. Where soldiers stayed during the Mid-East campaign. Must have been Hange's idea to put them in such a location. As if the environment would have some sort of impact on Kenny's thought process. It did. He started to remember Grisha, Kuchel, Rod, everything that brought him to where he was now.

Like the barriers of his sanity, the bunker came apart and all his memories resurfaced. At that point Kenny knew that something was wrong. He had been lied to. This wasn't Paradis.

"You'll kill me," Kenny smirked. "My brain can't handle being hooked up to Paradis and the prototype at the same time."

Eren glared unmoving. "Hange had already pulled the trigger by the time we showed up. As we speak, you're bleeding out in the lab. Do you want to stay here and live in the past? Or come out and die in the present?"

Obnoxious laughter came from Kenny. "Why did you come to see me and not Levi?"

No answer.

Kenny shrugged. "Fuck him too then."

"You were trying to make him into a war machine. If that's not enough reason to hate you, I don't know what is," Eren retorted.

"Look, kid, I'm not gonna sugarcoat it for you. You and all clones were created for war. War that _I_ profit off of. Rod, your brother Zeke, Hange, Eldia-Marley. All those fuckers are playing the exact same game." After his outburst, Kenny collapsed. Eren rushed to him in a panic. I'm OK, I'm OK, he tried swatting Eren away.

"What does Zeke want with our father? Why is he experimenting on him?"

Give it a rest, Kenny thought. Around him cascaded memories of Grisha. This was Paradis. No, the prototype. Life flashing before his eyes and death on the other side.

"Your old man saw too much war. It broke him. He ran off with your mother but still couldn't forget," Kenny watched confusion come over Eren's face.

"So you're saying that my father _willingly_ made himself brain dead so he could _forget_ you?"

"He just wanted to remember raising you. Having a real family. "

Releasing Kenny, Eren remarked, "Zeke is coming after me for Grisha's memories, then."

"How do you know you're not falling into his trap? Do you really trust Hange?"

"I don't know," Eren placed his hand around his neck, ready to log out. "I do know that I consider this a merciful death considering the life you lived."

Kenny slumped to the ground of his crumbling psychosphere. "I need you to promise me something."

"You're in no position to be asking favors." Eren angrily snapped.

Kenny seemed to sincerely plead, "I get it, you don't like me. I don't like me either. I'm about to kick the bucket and all I can think about is Grisha."

Eren paused. "What do you want me to promise?"

"Don't leave Levi. Don't leave him like Grisha left me."

The log-out screen appeared after Eren finally replied, "I promise."

Logging off, Eren jolted back into his own consciousness. Oddly enough, he felt no pain from his injuries. What surrounded him was the cloud-like material of bed sheets and a mattress. Beside him lay Levi. He seemed to have aged. A few grey strands fell over his concerned face.

"Eren, why are you crying?"

Sitting up, he quickly wiped the cold wetness on his cheekbones away. They were in a room, not a lab. "Kenny. Where's Kenny?"

Levi frowned. "Are you OK? You know my father passed away years ago. So did yours."

"Is...is this real?" Eren gnawed on his hand. Alarmed, Levi took Eren's hands in his. "What is going on with you? See, _this_ is what happens when you pregame before we go out. No alcohol at Zeke's today. I need you to be sober and presentable."

Affectionately Levi pressed their foreheads together. Unable to respond, Eren tested the waters by planting a soft kiss on Levi's lips. Real enough.

Levi brought them back to the comfort of the pillows. Jitteriness would not allow Eren to relax completely. It made him rub his neck, which Levi began massaging absentmindedly.

On the nightstand beyond Levi's shoulders Eren saw a newspaper. The front page read, "VETERANS COMMEMORATE END OF MID-EAST WAR."

By Mikasa Ackerman.

"Mikasa! Is she here!?" he wrestled out of Levi's grasp.

"Eren, there's no need to yell. I'm right here in front of you. And Mikasa's probably with Jean in their home in Mitras. You know this. Stop acting hungover."

"I don't understand what's going on," Eren moved to the edge of the bed. He swung his legs over, feeling soft carpet brush the bottom of his feet. He glanced into the mirror hanging on the wall. Obviously he had grown older too. Stubble on his face confirmed that. How much older, however, he could not guess.

Then he saw the photos. Historia and Ymir in wedding gowns. Armin at a graduation ceremony. Connie holding up a trophy for some tech competition. The picture near the bedroom door disturbed him the most. It was of Zeke and his family.

" I'll go get you some ibuprofen. Coffee might help too." Levi muttered before climbing out of the bed. Eren pulled him back in. "Can I ask you something?"

Levi straddled Eren's hips. "What?"

"Do you know what Paradis is?"

"Is that a drug? Are you on drugs? You said we'd try them _together_ ," even the sarcasm was a match for the Levi that Eren knew.

Defeated, he tucked his face beneath Levi's chin. "This can't be reality."

"I'll take that as a compliment. Can't believe we're going seven years strong either."

Seven years.

The love they made only confused Eren more. Every sensation matched what he was used to. Their dynamic and rhythm had not changed. So what was different?

A ringtone erupted. After several awkward seconds, Levi nudged, "Aren't you going to answer your phone?"

Eren got up to retrieve the noisy device. It was a call from Zeke.

"Zeke,"

"Hi, Eren! What time are you and Levi coming over? Kids wanna see their uncles."

"Zeke, you have to get me out of here."

Only the commotion of children running around came through the phone. At last Zeke came back on the line to say, "Get what now? Speak up, buddy!"

Levi swiftly grabbed Eren's cell to take over. "Please ignore him. He's hungover. We'll be there in two hours. Tell Pieck she can help teach our next yoga class." The call ended.

"Cut it out," the worry in Levi's voice had returned. "Let's shower and get a move on. I'm sure traffic is gonna be a pain."

Water, cold and hot, did not feel odd on Eren's skin. He got out the shower first to stare in the mirror. In his reflection, Eren picked at the hairs growing on the sides of his face. Blood. That would prove everything. A razor in the bathroom cabinet. Eren brought it up to his face—

"Let me do it or you'll cut yourself, brat," Levi, in only a towel, grabbed Eren's upper arm. At a close distance he stood between Eren and the counter applying shaving cream. With precision and care he shaved Eren's stubble. No nicks.

"There."

"Thank you." Eren touched the smooth skin on the lower half of his face. Levi's hand covered his. Melted white dripping everywhere. Eren ignored the complaints about not wanting to taste shaving cream and moved in for another kiss.

He lifted Levi onto the slippery counter. In the midst of the intensity he bit down on the droplets that had yet to dry on his pale neck.

"Ow—what the fuck?" Levi shoved him away. "Why would you _bite_ me?" He hissed that Eren nearly broke the skin.

The car ride was quiet. Eren recognized the Jeep that Levi drove. An interview played on the radio.

 _So, Dr. Zoë, your research outlines the benefits of virtual reality._

 _Yes, my assistant Moblit and I have compiled evidence that proves how it decreases stress. Especially in those with PTSD._

 _Fascinating! We'll be right back with a more in-depth analysis of your work after this…_

"Is Hange coming to dinner?" Eren went out on a limb and asked. Levi merged unto the freeway while laughing, "Yeah. The president is coming over too. You think I hang out with famous people?"

"But you two worked together."

"What are you talking about? I run a gym. Have you forgotten that you operate a restaurant chain? Seriously, Eren, don't spend all day nagging me with twenty one questions. It was cute at first but now it's annoying."

They arrived at Zeke's home, another constant in the world that Eren could no longer identify. He was greeted by Gabi and Falco, now in their preteens instead of in their adolescence like Eren remembered.

"Uncle Levi!" Gabi hugged him tightly. Falco squeezed Eren happily.

"Colt's home today!" they tugged Eren into the kitchen where a blonde gentleman bearing the likeness of Zeke was assisting Pieck with cleaning up cookware. They both warmly regarded him.

"Where's Zeke?" Eren scouted the room for his brother.

"Oh, he's grilling out back." As soon as Pieck disclosed Zeke's location, Eren rushed towards the backyard. There Zeke was, placing a lid on the grill. He turned around smiling, "Good to see you!"

"Don't play dumb with me," Eren grabbed his brother by the collar of his shirt. "I'm not falling for this."

Zeke nervously smiled, "Falling for what? I'm not following…"

The pitchfork on the picnic table. Releasing Zeke, Eren dove for the handle and steadied the sharp object over his own arm. Zeke's scream alerted all the others to come rushing outside.

"Eren, stop!" Levi was the one shouting now. Running, shouting. Down Eren brought the

twin blades. Unbearable heat, scorching pain, and the steam. Immediately the wound healed. Everyone was still closing in on him.

And then they all disappeared. The home, everything. In the darkness, Hange emerged.

"The settings were tailored towards your preferences, desires and fears. It was either this or death, Eren. I'm sorry."

"Where's my body?"

"I'm preserving all the clones at Eldia-Marley. The Paradis Bill didn't pass. You won't be used for war but you're not allowed to be around humans."

Eren thought about Mikasa. "I want to be with my real sister. And the real Levi. I don't want any of this."

Hange nodded, "They're safe, Eren. I promise. Once we have your genomes copied, I'll end the program."

"You'll kill us."

"No," Hange quickly shot back. "There are people fighting for your right to live. Armin, Historia—"

"And if Paradis wins?"

"You'll be sent to the Mid-East."

Just like Zeke wanted. At this point the battle was out of Eren's hands. It became entangled with things that he didn't understand. If his only form of resistance was existing, so be it.

"Can I start over?" He asked.

Adjusting their lenses, Hange tenderly smiled. "Of course. Where would you like to begin?"

xxxXXXxxx

He was right on time. A few blocks from Rose Estates. In between a row of trees and the here-and-there streetlights. It was so still that he could hear the sound of rubber hitting the pavement. From where he stood Eren recognized Levi's dark hair and pale skin.

Eren tapped his wristwatch the exact same moment Levi slipped and fell. He watched the jogger get up to find a tree to rest against.

While Levi was catching his breath, Eren set everything in motion.

For the past few nights he hid in the shadows waiting for the right moment. This time he'd do it right.

"Hey, are you ok, man?" Water bottle in hand, he walked up to a breathless Levi. The purely untouched one. Unexplored and untainted. Eren regretted asking to have his past be his reality. He knew that one day he'd wake up and meet his fate. War or peace.

Levi's voice reclaimed his attention. "Yeah, I fell but I think I'll live. You a night jogger too?" their knuckles touched as Eren handed the bottle over. Levi drank it in a rush.

"Yeah. Y'know, I thought there was a chance that you were gonna tell me to fuck off."

"That's awful. You're checking to see if I'm OK. And giving me free water. Why would I do that?"

Eren shrugged, "I dunno, maybe another version of you did that to a different version of me."

Levi snorted, introduced himself, and asked for Eren's name.

"It's Eren."

"Thanks for the water, Eren," he ran off.

They saw each other numerous times. Started running together. In this rendition Eren let their relationship develop. He relinquished control of time and reason. All he had was free will.

Even if none of it was real, nothing he did could bring about an actual consequence.

* * *

I'm DONE. There. It ain't a masterpiece but I'm glad I can say it's finished. I know it isn't perfect. Please don't hate me.

Anyway, just because this fic has ended doesn't mean I'm gone! I have a tumblr so hit me up alexgrand1. Yes, apparently there's another Alex Grand out there lol. I don't really post a lot of stuff on there but send me a fic or say hello!

Have a great rest of your year folks! Safe travels during the holidays.


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